Black Diamond
by Breagen
Summary: Irelia has been serving as the Captain of special forces of the Government for years now. She saw things that would scare the majority of people for dead. When her supervisors assigned her and her team to another mission, she expected it to pass smoothly. She's so mistaken. Nothing in her long career prepared her for what she's about to witness.
1. Chapter 1

„Irelia!" The bulked man in black armor called her name.

"What's up, Roger?" The woman clothed in a dark, fitted suit responded.

"We have a new task to deal with."

"How so? We merely came back from the field a couple of hours ago."

"Yeah, I know, but it seems there a pretty nasty situation in slums."

"As far as I'm aware, our government doesn't really care about the poor. What's the matter?"

"Two of our comrades have been found dead there."

"It isn't something new," Irelia responded with a sigh. "In slums, hundreds of people die every day, even our boys sometimes die there. There is something else that you aren't telling me."

"Unfortunately, Capitan," Roger admitted. "They're found skinned, gutted. The blood was forming a decent pool under their hanging corpses. They didn't seem to fight back. It seemed as if they were hunted, and they massacred."

"There are only a few people in the city that could kill our soldiers, and none of them would be able to achieve it without a fight. What does our command presume?"

"That we're dealing with something much worse than the poor who are leaving down there. We're tasked to find out what happened and to kill that son of the bitch who killed ours."

"What about their armors?"

"Ripped, crushed, torn, it's complicated for me to describe it. It seems that they weren't offering much of the safety again the killer."

"I haven't seen the weapon that could easily pierce through our second-skin. If I recall correctly, there are such creatures that could do it, but we'd know for sure if any of them were in the city."

"I know, ma'am."

"Who died, Roger? You seem touched." The Capitan asked.

"My brother and Skype," Roger exhaled slowly.

"We'll find who is responsible for it, and I'll personally make sure that the punishment would be slow and cruel." The pink-haired woman announced, patting the shoulder of her subordinate.

"Thank you, Capitan."

"Don't mention it, we have someone or something to hunt. Get the team ready in 10."

"Ay."

When the man turned around and started to run into soldiers' quarters, the officer couldn't help but wonder, what would they be forced to face with. The sudden task seemed a bit suspicious. There were just too many ifs about it, none certain information. They'd have to search an enormously broad area in a search for god-knows-what. To make the matter worse, the civilian might be involved in the possible shooting. They'd have to watch out not only for themselves but for those poor bastards that were living in slums. Irelia knew that for the government, they're worth less than dirt that was lying on the streets. The Capitan knew what the life down there looked like, after all, she's brought up there. She couldn't help but feel pity for those who weren't so lucky as her. She made a mental promise that she'd do anything to prevent the casualties in the civilian. With that promise in mind, she headed into the hangar where she'd await the arrival of her team.

20 minutes lates:

The sound of the transporter's engines was overwhelming. Even though the Captain was using the muting system, the sounds were about to make Irelia go insane. To be honest, she hated the air vehicle that was being provided to them, it's too loud, too slow. Fortunately for her, the flight was about to end as they're preparing for a landing.

"Do we have any additional intel?" The officer asked through the voice-com.

"Additional bodies were found during our flight," Amanda informed her.

"How many?"

"Six according to the records. All of the killed folks were the part of the slum's mafia."

"None civilian were killed?" Roger asked.

"Negative, it seems that whoever or whatever is killing them chooses only armed units," Mathias added.

"Where were the bodies found?"

"In the sewer, ma'am," Amanda replied.

"Were they crippled?"

"Yeah, skinned and gutted. The only difference is that this time, the killer didn't hang them. The bodies were left to rot inside of one of the passages," Arthur answered.

"So as for now, we know that we're dealing with someone or something capable to pierce through our armor. The hunter, as I'll call it, is wasting its time to perform some kind of ritual after killing its prey. It's crippling the bodies, presumably collecting some sort of trophy. It's choosing only the armed people, so we can assume that it won't attack civilians. The problem is that we don't know where it can be right now. The distance between the first found bodies and the second scene of the crime is enormous. The hunter covered the length of a few miles between the two kills. For now, there are no connections between the attacks aside from what I have already mentioned." The blond-haired woman summed up.

"Thank you, Marrisa," Irelia said. "As you can see, the task ahead of us won't be trivial. We need to search at least a quarter of slums, and even then, we aren't guaranteed that we'll find it. As much as I don't like to say it, we need to split. We'll form eight groups of two, each of them will be assigned to cover on the area, that I'll upload to the system in a second. Remember, the hunter will probably treat us as its next possible prey. Be careful, if you see it, don't engage, mark your location, and wait for the rest of the squad. I don't want any casualties today, one of us has already lost a dear person. If you didn't know, the hunter killed Roger's younger brother. When it did it, the task became personal for us. I want us to revenge Marty. Did I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir." The squad replied.

"Good, let's make the hunter prey."

30 minutes later:

"Another confirmed kill," Matt said through voice-com. "Mathias, Joe it's near your position, can you check it?"

"Sure thing, we'll respond in a few," Joe replied immediately.

"Roger that, be careful, guys," Irelia added.

"We can join them, we aren't that far from that location," May stated.

"Do we have permission to move?" Sam asked.

"Permission granted." The officer responded. "Tia, Roger, Arthur, Mike, aid them as well."

"Acknowledged," Mike responded.

In an instant, the Capitan bit her lower lips, she had a feeling that something terrible was going to happen soon. She had a feeling as if she's being watched from afar. Something wasn't right. She swallowed a gulp that appeared in her throat.

"Team, be extra careful, I have a bad feeling about the hunter," Irelia whispered.

"Aight, Capitan. We're nearly on the spot, eta 2 minutes," Mathias informed her.

"Proceed slowly."

"I see the bodies," Joe said. "Oh, God. They were massacred. There are at least 10 dead mafia members there, not crippled."

"It can mean that the hunter is nearby," Mathias added. "Guys, eta?"

"5 minutes," Roger stated.

"10 minutes," May replied.

"Roget that, I'm putting through what I see," Mathias said.

When the transmission got decrypted, the officer could take a look at the slaughter that had taken place there. Irelia spotted nearly instantly that the majority of the dead were almost cut in half, there were parts of the bodies cut off. The bloodstain was covering most of the available space. The transmitted scene look dreadful, she didn't see such bloodshed for ages, their missions were always finished cleanly with the least casualties possible. It seemed that the hunter didn't care about such matters.

"One of the mafia members is still breathing," Joe informed. "It's female, her right arm was torn off of her."

"Check if she remembers how the attacker looked like," Roger ordered.

"Ok, coming closer."

The officer literally stopped breathing as her subordinate was closing the distance between him and the severely-wounded woman.

"Hey, you. Still breathing?"

"Not for long," The member of the mafia breathed out slowly, coughing with her own blood.

"How so? We aren't going to kill you, at least not for now."

"She'll return here shortly." The wounded whispered.

"She? What does she look like?"

"It's just the goddess of death, it's Gurth."

"You're really a fanatic, aren't you? It's childish to believe in gods."

"You're about to meet her yourself."

"If she's as gorgeous as you believe she's, I'll meet her with my dick hanging and waiting for her."

"She'll rip it off of you. Take me, my goddess." The woman mumbled.

The next action happened too fast for Irelia to spot it at first sight. She heard the groan of the dying woman when the small object hit her straight into the chest, opening it with ease. Joe's vizier was covered in blood in an instant, the little mist-like cloud was created from the blood that erupted from the deadly wound.

"Fuck!" Joe shouted. "What the fucked happened?"

"Joe, Mathias retreat!" Irelia ordered.

"Joe, to me," Mathias shouted.

The soldier ignored the shouts of his comrade, and turned around, looking at the object that ended up the life of the gangster. It's was a small kunai that had a strange looking gem put into its hilt. It's beaming unnatural green light that was so interesting for the man. Before he could reach it, he heard footsteps.

"Joe, get the fuck out of there," Mathias cried out.

Before the man noticed, the new shadow fell upon him. When he rose his eyes, he saw a white-haired woman of average height whose face was covered by the mask. The aura around her was terrifying, she seemed taller than she indeed was, she looked like the goddess of death that ascended on this world. Before he could do anything, she ended his life. With incredible speed, the woman reached for the kunai and slashed through the throat of the man. The armor didn't stand a chance, the blade pierced it as if it wasn't there. The soldier started to choke on his own blood, but it wasn't over. The hunter hid the dagger instead of she reached for two curved blades that were attached to her wrist. In a time shorter than a heartbeat, the avatar of death stroke again. Irelia could see as the legs and arms of her friend were being cut off of his dying body.

"Joe!" Mathias and Irelia cried out.

"You crazy bitch, you're gonna pay for that," Mathias shouted, charging with a drawn sword at the woman.

From Mathias's point of view, more details about the hunter could be noticed. She's clothed in some semi-transparent, semi-shattered armor, or rather some pieces of it. She wore a small chest piece, reduced pauldrons, massive gantlets, an armored waistband that covered her ejected pelvis, and high boots that were reaching till her mid-thigh. Her white hairs were put into the ponytail that was clipt high. Irelia must admit, the huntress looked terrific. She's as beautiful as she's deadly. She's felt bad for such thoughts about the monster that just butchered her soldier, but she couldn't tear her eyes off of the huntress. She's like the perfection that took hold upon the living body. The feeling of admiration toward the woman was immediately replaced with dread. It took her too long to process the information, that Mathias was charging at the butcher, he's charging at his most certain death.

"Mathias, retreat!" She cried out, her voice breaking down.

"Screw it, I'll kill that bitch for Joe." The soldier responded with a wavering tone of voice.

"Mate, you're dead," Tobias said. "May God saves you."

The huntress didn't move an inch. She's watching the charging man, her whole frame taunting the soldier to fight her, to start the fight that he couldn't win. If she didn't wear a facemask, the officer was sure the smirk could be seen on her face. The distance between Mathias and the huntress was vanishing rapidly. Only a few more seconds and they'd be in the reach of each other.

When it happened, the time seemed to slow down for the Capitan. She's all too aware of the confidence that was emanating from the butcher, it's the confidence that was forged from the vast experience, it's forged in the blood of her enemies. The huntress allowed Mathias to take a few steps more before she threw herself at him. It became known all too soon that her comrade, wasn't a match for the woman. The white-haired dodged all of the slashes, dancing between them. In a matter of seconds, she's standing right before the vizier of the soldier. Her eyes were dark but calm. No emotion could be seen inside of those orbs in a color of blood. The huntress enveloped her left arm around Mathias's neck while her second hand reached for the knife. In action too quick to accurately observe, the butcher beheaded the soldier. In less than a few minutes, Irelia lost 2 of her soldiers, 2 of her friends. It's so hard to believe that trained commando-troopers could be killed with such ease. When the helmet finally fell down on the dirt of the alley, all that the officer could see were boots of the white-haired. The butcher stood still for a couple more seconds before she turned around and disappeared.

"Take care of their bodies, and please stay grouped," Irelia whispered.

"Yeah, we're dealing with something far superior to us," Roger admitted.

"Let's hurry before some scavengers disgrace their corpses even more," Leona said.

"We're nearly there," Arthur informed them. "We're at the entrance of the alley."

"Wait for Tia and Mike," Irelia ordered. "She's able to kill two of us without breaking a sweat, it won't be difficult for her to repeat it. We must be even more careful than normally."

"I see them," Mike said.

"Good, clean the bodies, then wait for the rest. It seems that we need to rethink our strategy."

20 minutes later:

"Another confirmed kill," Amanda informed. "This time, it's just a slaughter. The small clinic, a few streets from us, was the target. Dozens of dead bodies there, according to the police. Civilians, all of them."

"It wasn't the huntress we met," May stated. "She didn't kill a single civilian, and to further prove it, she didn't consume her prey's corpses. The new hunter already did it, some of the bodies are half-eaten, it looks like someone just let a lion into the clinic."

"For the fuck sake, as if we haven't had enough problems yet?" Matt cursed.

"Yeah, our problems just doubled themselves," Irelia responded gravely.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Writer info:**_

_**If any of the readers have an idea that he/she wanted to see in any story that I'm currently writing, please, feel free to write a comment, send PM here, or via Twitter: /White_Dawid. If I ended up putting the idea in the text, the person who suggested the idea will be mentioned.**_

_**And, here I'd like to present to you the 2nd chapter.**_

* * *

_**An hour later:**_

„Please, Tobias, don't say that there was another attack," Matt said, covering his face in hands.

"Unfortunately, there was," Amanda spoke. "The small ramen shop was the target this time. The attacker was probably the second hunter, again the bodies were half-eaten."

"Don't tell me that I need to check it," Matt whined.

"Mate, I understand that you don't want to see the guts spilled on the floor, but it's our task. The faster we locate that new threat, the quicker we should be able to kill it," Arthur stated. "If we gonna keep doing nothing, there will be more casualties, more dead people down there."

"Unfortunately, Arthur is right. The situation is speedy getting out of our control," Amanda summed up.

"Yeah," Roger agreed. "The huntress that we met seemed to stay low for now. I wonder if she isn't waiting for bigger prey, what' ya think?"

"It's possible," Irelia responded. "The huntress stopped attacking when the new attacker appeared. It's pretty safe to assume that it's her new target."

"These are only speculations," Tobias spoke. "We can't keep waiting or another move of our enemy. We won't be able to respond in time. There are too few of us to cover the entirety of slums. I think that it's high time, we inform the Government. We need more men to deal with it."

"Captain?" May asked. "What are the orders?"

"Jason, inform the command center about the situation." The officer said slowly. "The rest should go to that bar, we need to check whether the attacker left some kind of clue for us."

"Fuck!" Matt coursed.

"Matt, I don't like the view either, but it's something that we must do." The pink-haired woman said.

"I know, Cap, I know."

"How many dead, or at least confirmed?" Roger asked.

"At least 6, but I fear the number can be higher, a way higher. It was a pretty popular and busy place in slums, lots of people were visiting that place," May responded.

"Why can't we just blow up this place?" Mark asked.

"If you want the entire city to crumble, go ahead. I remind you, we're currently underground. That place wasn't meant to be a part of the city, it was meant to be a prison," Leona growled.

"I keep forgetting about that detail, sorry," Mark apologized.

"Jason, did you manage to establish a connection with the HQ?" Tia asked.

"Yeah, the message was sent. For now, there is no response."

"Hmm, a bit suspicious," May stated. "But, it can be caused by the massive rock layer that is the backbone of the upper city and our ceiling."

"Yeah, it can be that," Jason agreed.

"Ok, guys, let's move out." The Captain ordered.

_**20 minutes later:**_

"What the fuck is that smell?" Matt coursed.

"The mixture of urine, blood, cheap alcohol, and many more things that you don't want to know," Marris replied.

"Jesus, the thing that did it, was hungry," Tobias said, pointing at the body of a nearly 2 meters heigh man, or something that was left of him.

"The hunter ate his guts," Tia informed them. "It seems that it prefers to eat the organs instead of raw meat."

"It doesn't give as much feedback!" Matt shouted.

"Shut up, Matt. Look, not all of the corpses' guts were eaten. There are a few that look like were tortured."

"Agggh, you're right," Roger gasped. "Their fingers are either cut off or bitten off. The wounds on their back look like the hunter was stabbing them with something blunt. It seems like it was toying with them, watching as they struggle to escape."

"Let me look at it," May spoke.

The woman quickly closed the distance to the corpses. She kneeled beside them, inspecting the wounds that covered nearly all of the remaining skin. The first body that the commando-trooper decided to investigate belonged to the man, probably in his teens. He was of average height, slim. His whole left hand was chewed. In the right thigh, the woman found the pieces of wood. The tibia from the other leg was ripped off and could be located a few steps from the rest of the body. The wounds on the back looked like someone thrust the blunt object into the flesh with brutal force. The whole frame of the young man was massacred, based on his still open eyes, he died after prolonged torture. After the woman was finished with the first dead, she focused on the rest. To be frank, every single one of them looked terrifying.

"Have you found something useful in the bodies?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, in one of them, there was a long, sharp fang that could belong to one of the great cats. It seems that our hunter is even less human than the huntress we met before," May summed up.

"At least, for now, there were no additional attacks," Leona added.

"If you're talking about communication, Jason, have you received any response from the HQ?"

"Let me check," Jason replied. "It seemed that they dispatched two additional teams, they should be there shortly."

"Thank God, at least, we got so help," Matt whispered.

"Any info which teams were assigned?" Irelia asked.

"Negative, there is no additional information."

"Shame, but we need to keep moving." The officer spoke. "We're moving to the safe-zone. Once we're there, we need to analyze the data we gathered."

"Yes, sir." The team responded.

_**20 minutes later:**_

"Another attack," Amanda informed.

"Where this time?" Irelia asked immediately.

"Sector A16, the entrance to the sewer."

"Casualties?"

"Ehhh …"

"Amanda, what are the casualties? How was attacked?"

"According to the intel, six members of Bravo. They were cut into small pieces." The woman replied slowly.

"The huntress?" Matt asked.

"Most likely. No of the bodies were touched or consumed."

"Wonderful, for the fuck sake, wonderful," Tobias coursed. "She butchered six of ours in a single skirmish? How many troopers are needed to take her down?"

"Can't say for sure, but according to their viziers, she was wounded. Nothing serious, but still."

"You know what it means?" The officer asked.

"Yeah, we need to check it up," Amanda said. "We need to find out whether the huntress left the trail of her blood."

"Why do I feel like it's a bad idea?" Tia asked.

"I feel the same," Roger agreed. "But, this time we'll be there all together, I hope she won't decide to attack us all. To be frank, we don't know her limits."

"It's true, but we need to check it. Maybe the trail will lead us to the huntress." The Captain whispered.

"Do we have established communication with the leaders of Bravo and Gamma?" Leona made a question.

"I think so," Jason replied. "The leader of Bravo is Darius, while the leader of Gamma is Xin."

"Connect me with them," Irelia ordered.

"Ay, Captain."

"Captain Xan, what a surprising call," Darius spoke ironically. "What do you want?"

"Drop that attitude, Darius," Xin said stoically. "We know that you lost your men, but it isn't the reason to snap at us."

"I'll have the head of that butcher handed me on the silver plate," Darius growled.

"I'm sorry, I feel sorry for your loss," Irelia said.

"They were the soldiers, they knew the risk," Darius responded. "Xan, what do you want from us?"

"I'm moving my squad to the place where you men were found. It seems that the huntress was wounded during the skirmish, maybe we'll be able to locate where she's hiding."

"Affirmative, I'll assign my men to cover the sectors A5 – A10," Xin added. "I think we'll need a lot more people to deal with those hunters."

"I agree. The problem is that there aren't any additional command squads in the city. All of them were assigned for some other tasks, the best we could hope as for reinforcements would be military, and we know that they'd just make the whole mission nearly impossible to complete for us," Darius stated.

"Unfortunately, I must agree with that." The woman replied. "Xin, inform the HQ that the situation is far worse than we thought initially, and we need them to prepare the military, we might need them. As for now, I think we should investigate once again every place the hunters attacked."

"I'll have my men checked them. You can focus on your task, Xan," Darius responded.

"Ok, if anything happens, inform the rest."

"We know," Xin replied. "Good luck."

_**30 minutes later:**_

"The smell here is killing me," Mark spoke as soon as they reached their destination.

"What would you expect, it's the sewer entrance after all?" Tia asked.

"Couldn't the huntress choose another place for herself?"

"I doubt that it's the place she's hiding, but it's easier to hide the bodies there."

"She doesn't give a fuck about that."

"Mark! Calm the fuck down," Irelia growled on the soldier. "We're all under a lot of stress, you don't have to add up to it."

"Sorry, Cap."

"Where were they found?" The officer asked Amanda.

"A couple of steps further into the tunnel, we aren't far from there."

"Good, lead the way."

"Sure."

It didn't take them long to locate the place of massacre. They didn't have to search the bodies, they were covering the smallest spur of the entrance to the sewer. The corpses of the command troopers were cut into small pieces. The huntress didn't spare any of them, she dismembered every single one. The floor and the walls were still dumped from the blood that was covering them. Around the butchered flesh, the flies could be spotted. Inside of the guts, the insects had the feast. It seemed that the soldiers didn't stand a chance against the huntress in such a narrow choke-point. On most of the armors, the small cracks could be seen, the marks of their own rifles. The woman must have landed precisely in the middle of the squad before she started to wreak the havoc. Amanda kneeled in front of the only untouched helmet she could find.

"Does it still works?" Roger asked.

"I think so, but I need to test it before I am sure."

"Go ahead, we'll cover you."

The spur was an extraordinary place. It was isolated from the main branch leading a long, narrow tunnel to the lower parts of the sewer. No sound from the outside world could be heard there. In the dark tunnel, the silence ruled, making it even scarier to dwell deeper. Currently, the only sound that was filling the small space that the soldiers occupied was a buzzing of the helmet console.

"It works," Amanda announced after a few prolonged moments. "We should be able to see precisely what the man saw before his death, and shortly after."

"Before you put it through, did anyone find the blood of the huntress?" The officer asked.

"Nothing there, Cap. It's only the blood of ours," Matt replied.

"Did you check the next segment? The one that starts right past that corner." The woman pointed.

"Nah, your orders were to stay grouped," Roger reminded her. "We'll check it after we watch the ambush scene."

"Fine, Amanda, put it through."

"Ay."

It took less than a few moments for the software to pick up the transmission and to display it before their eyes. The tunnel that the members of Bravo squad were traveling was even darker than it was currently. The soldiers seemed to avoid using their flashlights. Instead, they were using the night-vision equipment that was built in their armors. Their voice coms were disabled, they were traveling in complete silence. Then, suddenly something changed. The sound similar to the scratching could be heard above them. They averted their gazes from the darkness, focusing on the place the sounds came from. Then, they saw a flash of red. Something heavy fell onto the ground. When they switch on their flashlights, they spotted the huntress. She was standing still right beside them. This time the mask was discarded, and they all could see the wicked smirk that was playing on her plump lips. The soldiers shouted and started to shoot. It was futile. The woman seemed to be able to dodge nearly all of their bullets. She drew her blades in a matter of a heartbeat and struck. It'd be tough to describe what was going on in the record. There were screams, gunshots, cries, it was just chaos. It didn't take long for her to kill five of the commando troopers. The sole survivor was the owner of the helmet that the record was being transmitted from. The man was scared, all of the suits alerts were popping off on the vizier. He emptied the last mag and drew the short sword that was hanging on his side. The soldier knew he was dead, his desperate, quite prayers were recorded. The commando trooper waited for the woman to take the first move, he knew that she'd probably counter every attack that he could muster at that moment. Soon enough, the killer lost her patience. She started to slowly approach the man, her blades splashed with fresh blood of his comrades. The mischievous smile was still visible on her lips. She was sure that she had already won. The strike was performed lazily. The attack was much slower than everything that she has done previously. The slash was dodged. By the time the man regained his balance, he had struck at the arms of the butcher. His blade reached the huntress and pierced through her skin. The fresh, thick, dark blood started to spill from the swallow wound. The eyes of the color of blood went dark in a fraction of the second, the teeth exposed.

The woman was furious, and she wanted to end the encounter as soon as she could. Without any warning, the white-haired threw herself at the soldier. They fell on the slick floor together, but they knew exactly who was in control. The shouts and cries of the command trooper filled the next seconds of the record, but not for long. Approximately a minute later, it was all over. The huntress rose up. Her frame was barely scratched, the lone trickle of blood was flowing out of the wound. The white-haired was ready for another kill, she didn't seem affected by the fight at all. The record ended when the huntress disappeared.

"Fuck!" Matt coursed. "She's even more deadly than we thought. She wasn't even injured. And she killed six of us."

"We don't really know what we're fighting against," Roger whispered. "The only thing we know is that she is superior to us, presumably in every aspect."

"Matt, check the corner," Irelia ordered.

"Right away, I wish we could just leave and forget about the whole incident." The soldier was nagging.

"You aren't the only one who would want it," Tia warned Matt.

"Yeah, I know. Let's do our job. The faster we finish the task, the faster we can get the hell out of there."

The man was furious, no, he was scared. The whole situation was getting worse and worse by every moment that past. Matt switched on his flashlight and ran straight to the corner. He didn't give a fuck to even look at the soundings, he just wanted to get the hell out of there. The soldier leaned out of the corner, checking if the huntress wasn't there. To be honest, he didn't expect her to be there. It was just a stupid order that must be fulfilled. As soon as he made sure no-one was there, Matt turned around to face his team. Something wasn't quite right, the commando trooper felt immediately. "Nah, it's just my fucking mind." He told himself. Then, something small and red dripped on his shoulder.

In a heartbeat, Matt closed his eyes, he was so dead. He tried to run, but it was futile. The soft, but god-damned strong hands reached him, stopping him from taking another step. He was lifted with ease. Only a fraction of the second passed, and he was immobilized. Less than a few inches from him, the face of the white-haired could be spotted. She licked her lips, exposing her small fangs. With a quick flip of her kunai, the huntress removed the helmet, exposing the neck of her prey. She smiles widely, looking at the man in front of her, who would die soon. Without any warning, she leaned in, biting the neck of the soldier, and drinking his fresh blood. Matt shouted at the top of his lungs, stopping the action of the woman. She looked at him once again, before the blades were drawn. The commando trooper didn't even have enough time to scream one more time. He was dismembered a few seconds after his head fell onto the ground with a disgusting bubbling sound. In the end, the white-haired got what she wanted, the blood of the still-living human. With a mischievous smile, she disappeared in a matter of seconds.

"Matt!" Irelia cried out once she spotted the massacred body of her friend.

"Oh, shit, retreat, retreat. The huntress is there!" Roger shouted.


	3. Chapter 3

_**40 minutes later:**_

* * *

Returning to their temporary HQ took them more time than Irelia planned. The morale of the squad was low. To be frank, she has never seen it as low as it was currently. Ever since she became the Captain, none of her subordinates were killed in action. To be honest, they were rarely wounded. All of their missions were marked as successful. It was so easy to believe that it'd last forever. Sadly, today they were faced with a brutal reality. Commando-troopers could be the best the Government could offer, but they were still human. They had their weaknesses and limitations. The enemy, the squad was forced to faced, was different. The huntress looked very similar to the human being, but the similarities ended there. The white-haired woman was killing without emotions. She was graceful, perfect.

"Do we have any idea how to deal with the butcher?" Roger asked, after at least half of an hour of silence. "For now, we know that we can't fight with her in melee range. She's too agile, and to be frank, I have never seen someone moving that fast."

"The problem isn't how to fight with her. The problem is how to kill her," Matt spoke. "We can safely assume that she can deal with at least 4 soldiers at the same time and kill all of them. It isn't like she didn't do it before."

"What's the point of fighting, then?" Mark asked. "We can't kill her. If we stay here, she'll kill us all."

"Mark, for the fuck sake, shut the fuck up!" Arthus shouted. "Your endless nagging doesn't help us. I know you're scared, but man, control yourself."

"If you want to stay, fine. I'm not waiting for the huntress to behead me. I want to live."

"Cap, what do you say?" Roger asked.

"Let him go," Irelia stated. "Mark, I hope you understand what consequences your decision brings?"

"No, I frankly don't, but I don't care." The man replied.

"Ahh, the moment you leave this room, you're released. You won't be the part of this squad anymore, and you won't have a chance to rejoin in the future. The HQ will be informed about that. Sooner or later, they'll assign you to another unit." The Captain explained. "Does it change your mind?"

"No, I want to leave this place behind. I value my life more than the slot in the squad."

"Aight, you can leave. Take care of yourself, kid."

"Get the fuck out of here, coward!" Jason growled.

"Fuck you, mate!" Mark shouted back.

"Let him go," Irelia repeated.

The rest of the squad allowed the deserter to freely leave the room. They didn't say a word, there was no farewell for the man who betrayed his team. The silence lasted a couple of moments longer after the soldier took his exit. Tia was the first one to speak.

"Cap, why did you let him go?"

"He chose to leave. There was no point in trying to convince him to change his mind," Irelia replied.

"You think that he won't reach the upper city?" Tia asked.

"Yeah, I think so. I don't want Mark to die, but he'll most certainly choose the shortest path to the passage."

"Hmm, you think that he'll lure the second hunter from its hideout?" Tobias curiously asked.

"He'll travel through its hunt ground, so it's possible. In the end, Mark can save more lives this way than if he stayed here."

"Cap, you willingly sacrificed him? Did you?" Amanda gasped.

"I think so. Amanda, please, turn on his camera and put the transmitted video on the wall."

"I don't like it, Cap," Amanda replied. She was shaking her head.

"I know, but I didn't have another choice. I wouldn't be able to convince Mark to stay."

"We understand it," Roger assured. "There are many difficult choices that you have to make as the officer and letting one of your teammates die, is probably the most difficult one."

"Roger, you don't have to remind me that. I've sent him right to his death." The officer whispered. "I'd love to promise you that there wouldn't be more casualties, but I can't."

"Cap, there is nothing to promise. We're all soldiers, we knew what was the risk when we signed up," Tobias spoke. "We're the team, and we'll do everything to keep each other alive. But … in the end, we're mere humans. If we're to die, we'll put a hell of the fight before dying."

"Yeah, Tobias for once said something right," Leona chuckled. "We're no longer the set of individuals, we're a team. We must focus on our task, it's all we can do."

"Agree," May spoke in lowe voice. "Amanda, did you manage to connect to looser's suit?"

"Nah, give me a couple of seconds more," Amanda replied, typing on the nearest keyboard.

"Okay, it isn't like we haven't got some time to spare," May replied.

"We won't be able to get to him quick enough if we stay here, Cap," Roger hummed.

"We won't try to save Mark," Irelia whispered. "Our only chance to take down the second hunter is to let him start its feast, then we'll attack."

"So, Mark is basically dead," Jason summed up.

"If he manages to avoid the hunter, he'll live. Otherwise, he won't stand a chance in one-on-one combat with that monster."

"Do you hope that the huntress will appear and start fighting with it?" Tia asked shyly.

"It'd be the best-case scenario, but we can't depend on it. As soon as the action is over, we're going to move out. It'll take time for the monster to consume Mark's corpse. The hunter should be distracted for a couple of moments, which can give us the edge we need." The pink-haired officer explained.

"This plan has an awful number of ifs inside of it. I don't like it," Amanda responded. "Should I inform other captains about our plan, once I'm finished with establishing the connection?"

"Do it, their help can be handy," Roger ordered.

_**10 minutes later:**_

* * *

"Connection established," Amanda informed some time later. "It seems that Mark hasn't even reached the passage yet."

"I assume Darius and Xin are informed?" Roger asked.

"Yes, Roger. I've contacted them."

"Good, put it through."

"Aight."

The massive monitor that was hanging on a wall started to flicker. The signal seemed to be clipped. They were able to see a few moments without any interference. Still, overall the quality of the visual was pretty low.

"Why is the visual so bad?" Irelia asked.

"I don't know, Cap. If I were to guess, I'd say that there is a pretty formidable source of an electric or magnetic field nearby," Amanda replied instantly.

"Hmm, we didn't have any problems with coms before. Is it possible for the hunters to have some kind of device able to interference with our signals?"

"It isn't impossible," May spoke. "But, we didn't encounter any problems when we were fighting against the huntress earlier. It can mean that the second beast is near Mark."

"Amanda, can you access his suit's analyzer?" The Captian asked out of sudden.

"Sure thing. Let me change one line of code." The technician was whispering. "And, done."

Indeed, the analyzer metrics appeared on the screen a moment later. Based on the high heart rate, shallow breath, and slightly risen body temperature, Mark was scared. Possibly, he was aware that the butcher or the monster were watching him, making a trap. The fact that there were no people nearby wouldn't calm anyone's mind.

"If he keeps this pace, he'll reach the elevator in a few minutes," Leona informed the rest of the squad. "Of course, if he doesn't meet any of the hunters."

"Look at the surroundings," Tobias spoke. "It looks as if someone pulled the scene out of the horror movie. The few lamps are flickering, it's safe to say that it's twilight there."

"Yeah, it's like a horror movie. The passages are empty, there is no one there aside from Mark. Look, there are marks on the walls. They look like scratches."

"There is some kind of liquid streaming on the wall. It's so thick and dark," Tia pointed out. "It looks like blood, but … fuck!"

"The hunter is above him, it's eating," Amanda gasped. "Now, it's just a matter of time before the beast decides to kill Mark."

"It's so strange, the whole scene seems like a battlefield," May whispered.

"How so?" Roger asked.

"I swear, I saw some puddles on the ground. I think it was blood. Some of them were red, some blueish."

"Wait, Mark started to run. He must have spotted something, or someone," Irelia told. "Can you rewind? Amanda, can you rewind?"

"I think so." The squad technician replied. "Yeah, how much?"

"Last minute, slow it as well."

"Got you. And it's done."

The screen flickered a few times before the video stabilized. As it was requested, the play speed was halved, allowing the squad to focus on the small details they could otherwise miss. It didn't take much time to find what they were looking for. In fact, May was right. The ground of the passage was covered in fresh blood. There was no doubt that some kind of fight must have happened here recently. Who fought, they didn't know for sure. They were confident that someone engaged the beast, but whether that person survived or not wasn't known.

"What the fuck, who has the guts to hunt for that beast?" Shocked, Tobias asked.

"I think it proves that the Cap was right," Tia replied. "The beast can be the ultimate prey for the huntress. The blood on the ground is similar to her. We found some of it in the sewer."

"Okay, but based on what we can see there, she lost that fight," Jason added. "How can we fight against something that defeated her?"

"I have a feeling that she wasn't the one fighting," Amanda stated. "It looks like the primal hunt or some kind of execution. I think there are more huntresses there. The lesser ones must have clashed with the beast. Even though they might not be as strong as the huntress we met, they're still formidable foes. They certainly inflicted some wounds onto their target."

"Hmm, it makes sense, but I feel like you haven't said everything yet," Roger replied.

"Because I haven't. The things I've mentioned already are highly possible, the rest is just my speculation."

"Tell us what's on your mind, Amanda," Irelia ordered.

"Okay, as you might have noticed, the huntress blood isn't that different from ours. I feel like she can be human."

"What?!" Mike shouted. "Do you expect us to believe that the huntress is, in fact, human?"

"She can be human, we don't know that yet. I just merely stated that she can be one of the kidnapped children from one of the colonies. It isn't uncommon for a few children to disappear a year." The technician explained.

"Okay, I can agree that she looks like us, but she can't be human. She kills without blinking, not to mention that I don't know anyone who could move the way she does."

"I understand your concerns, but I'm just mentioning the possibilities, nothing more. It scares me as much as it does to you."

"Mike, give her a break," Irelia rose her voice. "It's a scary possibility, I must admit. The mere thought that the huntress was once a human child that was taken away from her family, and then trained to be a killer, scares me."

"Isn't it that impossible? If you think about it for a second, the galaxy is really vast, and our kind is spread throughout all of it. There are billions or even hundreds of billions of humans living in it. We wouldn't even notice if thousands of people gone missing," May said.

"Sadly, I have to agree," Tia replied.

"Maybe stop discussing, the video hasn't ended yet," Tobias stated. "Maybe we'll learn something from that."

"Yeah, let's focus on it once again." The Captain agreed.

It wasn't surprising for them what had happened next. Mark spotted the puddles of blood that were covering the streets. It scared him, but it wasn't the reason he started to run. The thin stream of blood that was presented on the wall caught the attention of the soldier. The man averted his gaze from the ground, following the trail of the red liquid. After a few seconds later, his sight was focused on the very top levels of slum's buildings. Something was there, there was no point arguing about it. In the shadows, the massive frame could be spotted. It was slowly moving, as if it was chawing something, eating. The ex-commando-trooper didn't waste any time, he started to run for his life. To be frank, it was probably the reason why the beast interrupted its feast. Mark was running as fast as he could, but everyone was all too aware of the final outcome. The sounds of the chase started to reach the man no longer than a few short moments after his panic attack. The beast was on its way to hunt him down. Without turning back, the soldier knew that he didn't have a lot of time before the hunter would reach him. The man chose to turn to the nearest alley. All of his metrics were elevated. His breath was shallow, clipped. It was only a matter of time before Mark's body would refuse to run anymore. As soon as he entered the passage, he froze. Two women were standing there. They were so similar to the huntress, they were so beautiful. Before the soldier could do anything, one of them with dark brown hair put in dreads, ended his life. The seven-feet long spear was thrust into Mark's throat. The man was able to hold on for a couple of more seconds before the blood loss forced him to fall.

The sounds of the beast were coming from ever closer. Soon enough, the feasting hunter revealed itself. Their speculations were correct, the creature looked like the massive cat. It was clothed in a mixture of rags and bones. It seemed that the hunter was collecting the bones of its prey, then using them to show its might. The monster looked surprised when instead of the soldier, it met two huntresses. It took two steps back, but women had already started their onslaught. The brown-haired one ran at it, while the second was started to shoot from the strange-looking rifle. The hunting officially began.

"Fuck!" Roger cursed when the connection was cut. "Cap, what do we do?"

"I don't know," Irelia whispered.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Two days later:**_

* * *

Two days passed since Mark's had been found in of the dirty alleys. The whole situation got out of any sort of control. The commando-troopers felt like the pawns in some kind of game. It seemed that they were unable to fight with the alien hunters that out of nowhere appeared below the capital-city. That was two very long days. All members of Irelia's team were gathered in their temporary HQ. They weren't allowed to leave the place. It was a direct order from the Captain. She wanted to have a plan before she would let her team face the hunters again. To prepare it, they spent that lockdown time talking, arguing, searching. All of the soldiers tried to find something that they missed previously. They watched all records at least a dozen times. They analyzed them in slow motion. In the end, their effort was futile. The para-troopers didn't learn anything new about the enemy they were about to face. They felt powerless against them.

For May, those past days felt like a nightmare she desperately wanted to wake up from. She couldn't sleep at all, she was always nervous, her body covered continuously in sweat. The woman needed something to calm her mind to relax. The soldier decided that a shower during the night wasn't a bad idea for that. As quietly as she could, she reached the restroom where the showers were located. Once she closed the doors, the Asian woman stripped in a matter of seconds, leaving herself naked. The cold air of the night had an instant effect on her delicate skin. In a matter of seconds, she had goosebumps. It took more than a minute for the soldier to locate the source of the coldness. As soon as she found it, the vents were closed.

May still felt the coldness of the night, she needed to warm herself. Without much thinking, she activated the supporting system. Instantly the hot water started to stream down in a spacious stall. The moment the water fell onto her skin, she moaned a little. It was a pleasurable sensation. The woman took some soap and started to clean herself off of the sweat. Soon enough, the high temperature of the water began to affect the entire restroom. The steam filled the room in no time.

May couldn't have told how much time she had spent there, for sure. For her, it seemed like a couple of minutes, but it could be an hour or even more extended period. Suddenly, she heard the footstep right behind her. It scared her, but before she could turn around, the pair of strong arms were enveloped around her wrist. She would lie if she said that it wasn't a pleasant sensation. Regardless of that, her body tensed. The soldier knew that she should have been terrified that someone managed to sneak into their HQ, but somehow, she was unable to do so. She hadn't been with anyone in a long, long time. She hadn't been laid for far too long. As soon as that thought crept inside of May's mind, the owner of the strong arms took a step forward. She was pulled back at the same time. Soon enough, the bare back of the soldier was met with well-defined abdomen muscles and soft breasts. The very moment it happened, May squeaked in a pleasure.

The throaty laughter reached her ears a few seconds later. It was so primal, so huskily, so raw. The Asian woman had so much question, but she completely forgot about them when the warm lips were felt onto her nape. At first, the woman behind the soldier was planting feather-like kisses on May's delicate skin. The commando-trooper couldn't hold back, she started to moan loudly. Only one of her previous lovers took her time to treat her like that, to bring her pleasure by such a sensual act. Her today's lover started to get hungrier with every passing moment. The very first thing she added to spice-up the sensation was her moist tongue. Soon enough, the nape of the soldier was being abused by nipping, sucking, and bitting. May absolutely loved that. She felt like she meant something for the woman behind her that she was worth all the effort the stranger put into satisfying her.

A couple of minutes later, or at least according to the soldier, who's mind wasn't thinking all that straight, she was pushed into the wall. May whined a little, but she didn't have time for that. The para-trooper was turned around swiftly. Finally, she could see the woman who was making love to her for quite some time now. The Asian girl gasped. She couldn't believe her eyes. The woman standing before her was definitely the most beautiful creature she had ever seen in her life. Her lover was perfect in every aspect. Her body was strong, athletic, but for such tits and butt, May could have killed. The muscles she felt before, the abs, they were clearly visible. Who the commando-trooper wanted to fool, most of the men dreamt about such abdomen. Rising her gaze, she spotted the crimson-red eyes that were as hungry as she expected. The long, loose, white hair was falling onto the back of the gorgeous woman.

May wanted to say something, but she didn't have a chance to do so. She was kissed passionately. It was a fierce kiss that took all of her breath away. Before she could even return the caress, her legs were spread, the thigh of the white-haired beauty placed right between them. Her hand quickly found the love bud of the soldier and put pressure on it. The para-trooper moaned. She tried to scream from the sudden pleasure, but all of it was muffed by the hungry mouth of the crimson-eyed woman. She was lowered to be able to grind herself off of the thigh beneath her. Without hesitation, the trooper did it. She was far too lost, she wanted to achieve her peak, she wanted to cum.

May enveloped her slender arms around the neck of the white-haired woman pulling her closer. It was too good to be real, but even if it was just a dream, she wanted to ride it to the very end. Soon enough, she was overwhelmed by the pressure put onto her. She cum, screaming loudly. As her eyes started to close, she spotted that her lover was lowering herself, placing her mouth right before the nape of the soldier. May felt a tiny prick, but she didn't care. She was satisfied, and it was all that mattered for her. Before her vision became completely dark, she felt that she was being carried bridal style. The soldier was happy. In the end, she was finally able to get some rest, sleep for some time.

_**A couple of hours later:**_

* * *

"Silence!" Irelia growled. "I know that you're all scared, but your panic won't help us with anything. You're all talking like you already died. We can fight those monsters, but we need to work together."

"Not really," Tia replied. "We studied everything we have about them, and still, we didn't find a single detail that would help us defeat them. I know that you're doing your work Cap, but maybe this time we should leave the case to the regular army. They will be able to cover more ground than us. They will have more soldiers and much more equipment. Even though some of them might die, those hunters won't be able to kill all of them. In the end, they will be hunted down and killed."

"We're always risking our lives for them, maybe it's high time for them to repay the debt," Jason added.

"It's madness!" Roger shouted. "We were trained to overcome challenges, not to avoid them. Not to mention that those monsters killed our brothers-in-arms, and we need to avenge them."

"Mate, if we stay here, we will be as dead as they are," Jason angrily replied. "You don't need to remind us that we lost friends, but we can't do shit against those butchers."

"I don't want to say that, but I agree with Tia and Jason," Arthur spoke. "You're right, Roger, we're trained to overcome challenges, to surpass humans, not monsters. I'm not a coward, if there was even a slight chance that we could win, I would stay, but there is none."

"Captain, you aren't going to let them leave, aren't you?" Roger asked the pink-haired woman.

"They will disobey me if I order them to stay," Irelia sighed heavily. "I don't have much of choice right here."

"Cap?" Amanda called out the officer.

"Yeah?"

"Where's May? I haven't seen her all day long, and it's already late afternoon."

"Did you check her room?"

"No, she had such awful problems with her sleep that she was always the first one up in the morning," Amanda responded. "I thought that she would be here."

"Come with me," Irelia ordered. "We will check if everything is alright with her."

"Morning everyone," May's soft voice sounded.

In an instant, all of the commando-troopers turned around. They sighed with relief as soon as they spotted the short Asian woman who was standing in the entrance to the room. She was still clothed in short, green tee and matching pair of shorts. May was softly wiping her eyes, it was evident that she was still sleepy.

"Morning? It's already a late afternoon, May," surprised Leona informed the sleepy woman.

"What? How could I sleep that long?"

"Maybe you tell us? How could we know that?" Marris asked.

"Ehhh … it seems that the blame is on me, sorry guys." The soldier replied, scratching her nape.

"What do you have on your neck?!" Amanda cried out. "Are those fangs marks?"

"What? What are you talking about?" May gasped, searching for some kind of small wounds on her nape. Soon enough, her slender fingers touched something wet that was running down her neck.

"May, come here. Let us see what it is." The pale officer said.

The Asian soldier came to them and sat in the nearest chair. She was as pale as the Captain, if not more. Her entire frame was trembling slightly. Amanda started to inspect the injury as soon as she was able to. The substance that was purring down slowly from the tiny holes was blue. The liquid didn't have any scent, it was thick and sticky. The apothecary of the squad was trying to stop the leaking but to no avail. No matter what she used, the wound wouldn't seal itself.

"Ehhh, I am unable to seal it," Amanda sighed slowly after a couple of minutes. "We need to get her to a real hospital where someone with better medical knowledge than me could treat her."

"Agreed," the pinked-haired woman responded. "Squad, we're moving out of here. We have a wounded member that needs to be transported to the HQ. When we reach it, all of you who wants to leave the slums behind for good, will be able to do so. You will be able to make that decision without facing any consequence."

"Thank you, Cap," Tia spoke. "Thank you for what you're doing for all of us."

"I'll return." The officer announced. "I won't be able to live normally with the knowledge that I could at least try to avenge the fallen."

"I'll go with you," Roger assured the pinked-haired woman.

"Count me in as well," Leona added.

"Should I inform the rest of the squads about our departure?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah, inform them that we're all leaving. Tell them that it was a direct order from the Command."

"Ay."

"They will find out sooner or later," Roger spoke. "You know that other Captians will ask questions."

"I know, but they should be pissed at me cause I lied to them, not that I'm partially responsible for their soldiers' deaths."

"I hope that you know what you're doing, Cap."

"Me too, me too."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Author notes:**_

I'm sorry that I took me so long, but it seems that my uni and work are affecting me more that I would want to admit.

Here's the 5th chapter of the story.  
Hope you enjoy it.  
As always thank you for reads, hits, comments, kudos, bookmarks, subscription, etc :)  
It really means a lot to me.

My current schedule:  
The rise of the Blood Moons' servants  
The story of one lost soul  
Sometimes it's just better not to know  
My home is where my heart lies  
Black diamond

_**A few moments later:**_

* * *

"Do you know how did you get those?" Irelia asked the slightly wounded soldier as soon as she approached.

"I wish I do," May sighed heavily once again. "We haven't been in combat for at least 2 full days, I really have no idea how the hell I got those."

"Easy, easy," Amanda said instantly. "We aren't blaming you, you're just shocked and terrified. Something terrible happened under our noses, and we're clueless who or what caused it."

"I know, I know, I …," May started. "I'm the reason behind our retreat from the slums, and I feel guilty."

"Why do you feel guilty?" The officer asked tenderly. "You aren't the main factor that pushed me to make that difficult decision." The pink-haired woman whispered. "It was just a matter of time for me to sound the retreat. We lost a few of our friends, a few excellent soldiers, and we weren't able to deal with those hunters. Try not to put the blame on yourself."

"I will try, but I can't promise you that I will succeed in it."

"I can't ask for more, May," Irelia lightly squeezed the arms of her friend. "We're all going to move to the upper city. There, the real doctor will see to your wounds." The officer assured.

"Thanks, Captain. It really means a world to me." The wounded woman replied with gratitude in her voice.

"I would do anything to keep all of you safe, but it can't be helped, at least not now."

"Sometimes, we can't save all. You should know it all too well, Cap," Amanda spoke. "The current situation is like a war, just on a smaller scale."

"You're right, I know that, but it still doesn't ease up the process of accepting what happened."

"We know you all too well, Irelia," May started. "You will never forgive yourself for what happened to our friends, but for your own good, you need to. They wouldn't want that."

"Maybe, you two are right, but it will take time for me to process that advice."

"Soon enough, we will be in the upper city, then you will be able to take some rest." The wounded soldier assured. "It is just a couple of more minutes, and all of this will be over, at least for us."

"It won't be," Irelia replied. "I want to come back and revenge them, but for now, you are my top priority. I want the rest of you to be safe in the capital."

"Cap, Cap, Cap," Amanda giggled. "I think you'll never change. It isn't like we're all grown men and women, and we can handle ourselves decently. You aren't required to take responsibility for us like a mother takes responsibility for her children."

"If you think about it for more than a couple of seconds, it does make sense," May laughed. "You are seriously behaving like a mother toward us, Cap."

"Fuck you, I'm not anyone's mother," Irelia laughed as well. "All I want is you to be safe."

"Doesn't a mother want the same for her children?" Amanda winked. "You're pretty young, but if you really want, we can show you a place where you can find a sperm donor. Then wait a couple of months, and voila, you're a true mother."

"Fuck you, both of you. I am not even into men." The officer tried to respond coldly but failed to do so. "I can't even imagine that."

"You know, we can find you a hot shemale if you want." The wounded woman smiled evilly.

"I want this conversation to be over," Irelia slightly whined. "How can you be so cheerful right here? We're in the middle of slums, we're being hunted by some freaking monsters."

"Oh come on, Cap," Amanda said. "We all know that you think that the huntress is hot. I must admit, if she wasn't into killing us, I would probably date her as soon as it would be possible."

"I … I don't." The pink-haired woman mumbled.

"Oh, look at you, you are blushing," May giggled.

"Enough of that. Let's proceed to the extraction point." The officer cut off the conversation. Her whole face was hot, there was red all over it.

**_Half an hour later:_**

* * *

It was a weird turn of events, but their match to the extraction point wasn't interrupted even once. With all of them grouped in a pretty tight circle, they were the nearly perfect target for the hunters. Or, at least it was what Irelia though. If she was to bet which of the hunters would attack them, she would choose the white-haired huntress without hesitation. She seemed to be thriving in the fights against multiply enemies. The Captain couldn't tell for sure how many attacks took place since they bunkered themselves inside their temporary HQ. They cut off the pieces of information coming from the slums as soon as they locked themselves. The officer thought that it was a good idea, that it would allow them to focus on their goal without much distraction, but in the end, the decision seemed to be one big mistake.

"How many attacks have been reported recently?" The pink-haired woman asked via voice com.

"Around 100, Cap," Roger replied after a while. "None of our boys was killed during the lockdown, but many innocent people from slums were."

"I see," Irelia responded gravely. "Start the extraction. Mike, Tobias, Jason, you're going to cover us. As soon as the lift arrives, you're free to enter the building."

"Roger that," Tobias replied. "How long will it take?"

"No longer than a couple of minutes. There are too many of us to make it to the surface in one lift."

"It's fine, you didn't have any problems so far," Mike added. "We'll see you up there soon enough. Go."

"Guys, if any of the hunters show up before the lift comes back, just force it to retreat, or keep the safe distance. I don't want any of you to play hero right now. So many of our friends have already lost their lives. I don't want any more casualties. Am I understood?" Irelia spoke with a tone of drilling sergeant.

"Cap, you know us," Jason laughed. "We want to get the hell out of here more than you do. Believe me, we won't try to get ourselves killed."

"I really hope so. Good luck and see you in the capital in a few."

"Just go already before we start crying. You know we aren't the best in saying farewell," Mike joked. "Go, we will handle the situation down here."

The moment the lift started its way to the upper world, the areas around the extraction point went silent. The slight fog that began to form about an hour ago was currently reaching the thighs of soldiers. To be perfectly honest, the entire scenery was as if taken from the horror movie. The empty alley that surrounded the exit point added additional tension. Every couple of seconds, it seemed as if something or someone was moving inside of the fog. The creepy sensation was always in the back of their heads. The feeling was slowly creeping its way to overwhelm what was left off of their sanity. Each of them was staring into the different exit of the dark alleys. The extraction point was built on a circle plan. There were exactly 3 ways to reach or exit the lift area.

Even though it wasn't late, the nearby areas were flooded by darkness. To be frank, the only thing that was standing out from the pitch-black was a fog. It seemed as if hours had passed since their team entered the lift, but in fact, not even a couple of minutes passed.

"That scenery is fucking with my mind," Mike said suddenly.

"Yeah, me too, brother," Jason agreed.

"Something is definitely not right, but I can't point out what," Mike added. "I swear I see something moving through that fog every single damn time I look at my exit."

"Mike, someone may be walking there, but as far as we know, there was no attack in that area of slums. It was the reason, Cap, chose that exact extraction point," Tobias spoke. "Just don't lose your focus, a couple of more minutes, and we will be safe inside the lift cabin."

"I guess, but it still doesn't ease my mind," Mike nagged.

"Oh man, you won't calm down till we are finally out of this pit hole." Both Jason and Tobias replied.

"Shut up, I would love to be already inside that cabin. Something is just not right."

"Come on, don't be a pussy, man," Tobias joked.

"Fuck you," Mike laughed.

"Oh, look, our salvation is coming down," Jason added.

"About damned time," Mike growled.

A few moments before the platform reached the extraction point, the vein chilling scream reached Mike's ears. It was coming from his alley's exit.

"Please, help me. Please, don't rape me. Please, leave me alone. Please, please, please." The screams were only going louder and louder.

"Fuck!" Mike cursed under his nose. "Why now?"

As soon as the glass doors leading to the cabin opened, they entered the lift. Tobias and Jason were chatting happily, soon they would leave that pit hole behind them, and with some luck wouldn't see anytime soon.

"Aghh, please." Another whine reached the ears of Mike. "Please, I have kids, I am the only one they have left here. Please, let me go to them."

"Fuck, I can't let it happen," Mike growled and left the platform, barely making it through closing doors.

"Mate, what the fuck are you doing?" Jason shouted through the voice com.

"I can't let it happen again. I can't let another woman be raped and then killed," Mike mumbled.

"What the fuck … talking … mate?" Came the interrupted response.

"I can't hear you. I will be fine, I will come as soon as I deal with it."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Cap, do you hear me?" Tobias tried to reach the officer.

"You're a bit low, but I can understand you. What happened, you sound worried?" The pink-haired woman replied after a few seconds.

"Mike left the platform before it started its way top. He was shouting something about not letting another woman being raped and killed. I don't know what he was talking about."

"Shit," Irelia cursed. "He was referring to his wife. She was abused and then killed a couple of months ago by the local mafia. He didn't want anyone to know that beside me."

"Cap, I can't reach him, his com seemed to be cut off," Jason informed. "We can't stop the lift, we need to reach the top before we can get back for him."

"You aren't going back," Irelia said in a sad tone. "If he stayed there, he will be dead before we can reach him. Someone or something lured him. The most terrifying aspect of it is that that thing knew about his trauma. It must have been the huntress, I don't have any proof, but I feel like it was her."

"Cap, we can't leave him like that, he's our brother in arms, we don't leave anyone behind," Tobias was arguing.

"I know, but we can't do anything. Mike will be dead before you reach the top. If the white-haired huntress though us anything, it would be the fact that if we split up, she'll kill us all, she'll hunt us down."

"Cap …" Jason started.

"No!" The officer shouted. "It's the order! You're going to reach the upper city, and you won't go back there."

"As you wish, Captain," Tobias replied in the most pitty voice.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Irelia started to sob. "Fuck you, huntress, I'm going to hunt you and kill you!"

In the meantime in the slums:

Mike couldn't say for sure how long did he ended up running. With every single step he took, the voice he was following seemed to be fading as if someone was muffing the cries. The sole, though, was feeding his utter rage. For him, it was like the day his wife died was repeating itself. He wasn't able to protect her, but on her grave, he promised himself that he wouldn't let the same thing happen again. Fueled by his rising rage, the soldier was running through the dark alleys. His senses were sharpened, his entire frame was put in high alert.

After some time, the cries died. There were only silence and the heavy sounds of his boots hitting the ground. He immediately felt lost, vulnerable. Mike headed toward the place he thought the last scream came from. Minutes felt like hours, but he stubbornly was still pushing forward.

Soon enough, the soldier entered a small open area. In a matter of seconds, he located the body of a young woman that was resting on the wall. By the signs of blood that was covering it, Mike was pretty sure the woman was already dead. Something inside of his mind was telling him to run away, but he didn't do so. Instead of leaving, the soldier closed the gap between him and the dead body. She was wearing a blazer. The navy-blue tie was loosened, presenting a deep cut on her throat. By the look of things, it seemed that the woman was a part of the local mafia, but it didn't make any sense. The members of the gang wouldn't ever beg for life. Then, it must mean …

He felt the slender arms enveloping around his neck. Even though they were warm, soft, delicate, he felt the muscles underneath the skin. The warm, damp-breath moved from the nape to his ears.

"Consider it as my gift to you." The woman behind him said. "You'll meet your dear wife somewhere in the afterlife if you believe in such a thing. If not, you won't be required to live without her anymore. Goodbye, Mike." The huntress whispered before she cut the throat of the soldier.

In a matter of moment, the commando-trooper fell to his knees. His vision was quickly fading, his eyes slowly closing in. With his last breath, he tried to ask how the assassin was able to speak in his language. But he didn't manage to do so. Some noises were everything that escaped his throat. The moment his head hit the ground, he spotted the woman drinking blood from the dead body. Soon enough, he didn't feel anything at all. His final wish was to reunite with his wife. With that single thought in his mind, Mike died in the middle of some dark alley in slums.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Author's notes:**_

_**Hey, I thought that I could write a bit more and a bit faster, but I don't know, I couldn't.  
Here's the short chapter that should prepare the background for the rest of the story.  
I hope you will enjoy it.**_

_**As always, thanks for any interaction with the story (comments, reads, subscriptions, bookmarks), it really means a lot for me :)**_

_**Ending notes:**_

_**The next chapter I will write will be probably the 2nd chapter from the Alone story, but it is not yet decided, so it can be eighter Alone, Sometimes it's just better not to know, or My home is where my heart lies.**_

_**As of my last question, I didn't really get any response at all, so I think I will just write the 3rd part of the Warhammer AU story and finish on it. It seems that the story is not very interesting to you, so I will not waste time to write it.**_

_**Anyways, thanks for reading, and see you in the next chapter.**_

_**Two weeks later:**_

* * *

As Irelia was opening the door leading the apartment, she was temporarily given, she sighed heavily. Two weeks passed since her team returned from the undercity. It was two full weeks of constant guilt for the young officer. She failed her squad, she failed her friends, she failed her Government. Perhaps the most embarrassing situation she had ever encountered was the very moment she needed to place a report from their mission in the slums. To make the matter worse, she was asked to do it personally in front of the council of commanders. The pink-haired woman could see the disappointment that was hiding in their eyes as her report was being presented. Irelia was punished for her mistakes, part of it was the imprisonment in the apartment. Other than that, she wasn't allowed to take part in any kind of mission for at least the next six months.

When the familiar quiet click was heard, the soldier pushed the door open and entered the luxurious apartment. As soon as she dropped her bag on the floor, she sighed again. Irelia didn't care where the item fell, she was too tired to really care about such an unimportant matter. The pink-haired woman cursed under her breath. "Fuck, why did they need to assign me for reeducation," Irelia continued to sware in a low voice. The woman wasn't entirely sure, but the council might have had their eyes on her all the time. It sickened the young officer that her decision that saved the lives of many elite soldiers was declared as a failure as a betrayal. In the end, if they had stayed in the slums, her teams and all additional troopers sent to their aid would have been undoubtedly dead.

"It is so fucked-up," the soldier murmured under her nose. There was none a single night that she wouldn't have dreamed about what had happened down there. With every single passing day, the burden she was carrying became heavier and heavier. Irelia was so close to the point of no return. If it didn't change, she would surely go insane.

Soon enough, she reached the king-sized bed that was located in the biggest room of the apartment. Without much thinking, Irelia allowed her tired body to fall inertly onto the furniture. The pink-haired woman didn't have any strength left to even adjust her position on the bed. She was fed up with the lies that her supervisors were spreading in the news. The regular army that replaced the elite troopers in the slums were being seen as the heroes that were sent by the Government that somehow after many years reminded itself about the part of its people who were living in undercity.

To some extent, it was the truth. The soldiers were helping the residents of the slums by taking care of their sick and wounded, sharing their food rations. Of course, no one would confess that the trooper down there lost nothing, to be honest. The quotas that the single soldier was given would be enough to feed off 3 or even more people. It wouldn't be a problem for the rulers of the country to feed off all of the starving people, but instead, they just refused to do it. It was that simple in their minds – if you don't work, you don't deserve to eat. The reality of life in the slums was all too familiar to the young officer. To be frank, she was raised there, so she knew the situation from the first hand. Just like her, many young or not even so young people from the slums immediately tried to sign up for an army. And to be honest, it was a clue of the whole plan of the Government. The war between the Empire Irelia was serving in, and the Coalition of the Traders' Guild was on the horizon. The Empire needed new soldiers fast, it didn't really matter whether the new recruits would survive the first encounter. It was all about the number advantage, the war of attrition, which side would be willing to sacrifice more.

Irelia was more than certain that at least half of the recruits would not even finish the training in the camps. The instructors there were brutal, not to mention that they didn't have to care about the law, in camp they were the law, they were deciding who would live and who would die. It sickened the young officer because she knew the truth, but the pieces of information that were passed to the media could be considered as half-true or lie.

The current situation she was in, and the massive amount of the information she had access to, worried her. In the past, she believed that the rulers of the Empire weren't that bad, maybe they didn't know about the situation in slums, or elsewhere, but the truth was bitter. They just didn't care at all.

To be frank, her mind was currently a mess, maybe even more than a mess. Millions of thoughts were running through her head. Most of them were harmless, some pleasant, some sad, some terrifying, some bothering. However, all of them had one aspect in common, with the passing time, they became tiresome.

Irelia didn't even notice when her eyes became too heavy and closed themselves. In the most recent history, it wasn't that uncommon situation. To be perfectly honest, it was highly possible that every single evening, the young woman fell asleep in that very way.

Like every other night since maybe a week or so, she woke up in the middle of it. Irelia wiped her sleepy eyes and checked the small clock standing on the nightstand. "Damn, it's only 3 am, why the fuck did I wake up," she murmured. The entirety of the room was covered in darkness. The same could be said about the view from the single enormously large window that was put in the room. Even in the capital, the light system was implemented to shut precisely at 0000, or at least, it was the case in most of the districts. The pink-haired woman kept staring into the dark for a couple of minutes more, before averting her gaze. She laid down on the bed again, she tried her hardest to fall asleep, but to no avail. It didn't take long for her to start rumbling. The very moment she turned toward the window once more, her eyes opened and captured some movement. Just like many times again, she spotted two small red lights that were coming from outside of her place.

To some extent, it was astonishing that the sources of those lights were located so close to each other. To be honest, it could not be anything else, the apartment Irelia was put in was located on the 60th floor. There was no chance for anyone to reach it without jetpack that would make some kind of noise. The more she was staring into the red, the more troubled her mind became. After some time, the lights faded for a second or so, as if they were someone's eyes. As if someone was just outside of the window, and just blinked. That single thought scared the young officer. Not thinking too much, she hid her face in her pillow just like the small child. It could not be the truth, it would not be possible. "Wasn't it?" she asked herself. "I can think about one thing that could do it, and I'm pretty sure you know what I'm talking about," her mind stated. "You're talking about her, aren't you?" Irelia responded, trembling slightly. "Yes," the answer was provided.

"You need to face your fears," the pink-haired woman said to herself. With that, she turned around once again, focused on the window, but she didn't notice anything. "Maybe, those were just lights," she thought.

As soon as she averted her gaze, the orbs of crimson were just beside her. Instinctively, the young officer jumped to create some distance between her and the reaper. It was futile. The strong hands stopped her. In the blink of an eye, the room was filled with light. Immediately, Irelia recognised the intruder. As if it could have been someone else, it was the white-haired assassin that killed many of her friends and teammates.

"Kill me," the pink-haired woman said with a trembling voice.

"I don't think so," the reaper whispered softly into the ear of Irelia.

"How can …"

"I can do many things," the white-haired smiled mischievously. "You have only witnessed a fraction of my true potential," she added. "I need you if you help me, I will spare you and those of your people who had escaped."

"Do I have any choice to make?" Irelia asked, still terrified and shocked.

"I believe that no, you don't have any choice to take," the butcher whispered once again into the ear of the latter.

"Ok …" the officer whispered quietly.

"Fantastic," the assassin replied, leaning over the nape of the soldier.

"What are you doing?"

"You will see, just a bit of patience," the white-haired giggled.

"What … Aghhh," the young woman screamed when the razor sharped fangs of the crimson-eyed beauty sunk into the soft flash of her nape.

In a matter of a few seconds, Irelia's eyes went black, and she fell into a dreamless sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's notes:**_

_**Hey, in the end, I decided that I want to write a chapter of Black Diamond instead of The story of one lost soul.**_

_**I hope you'll enjoy it. I'm still trying to find a better way to make descriptions make dialogues better. If someone has any kind of advice for me, I'm all ears :)**_

_**I think that in the next update I will post The story of one lost soul (The power of love part 3). If you want me to write something else, update another story, feel free to do it in the comment section. But for now, till the next update :D**_

The sun's ray brought back Irelia's consciousness. As soon as the light reached her closed eyes, she became restless. After a couple of short-lived moments of wrestling with her own bedding, the young officer opened her eyes slowly. The woman could not say that she felt rested, to be frank, her current state was far from it.

The very first thing that caught the attention of the pink-haired was the room's only window. As through the mist, the parts of memories flashed before her very eyes. Irelia remembered the 2 crimson-coloured objects that would appear behind the glass. Those points had caused a panic attack on her, but she could not say why. From her current sitting, those could be just some kind of lights, nothing more. The officer could not figure that out, what happened that she was so scared, so terrified. Irelia could not find the answer for that very question, as if some part of those memories were erased from her mind.

Unconsciously her left hand landed on the side of the bed she was never using. Aside from the scattered bedding that she touched initially, something was very off. She could sense a warmth still emanating from the sheets as if someone slept there recently. A cold sweat nearly immediately broke on her brow, she could feel it. Simultaneously, the unpleasant shiver ran down her spine. Irelia jumped off of the bed maybe a second later, her throat went dry in what felt like a moment.

"Calm down … calm down, Irelia," she tried to reason herself. "Maybe you slept on that very side of the bed, and just at some point rolled up to the other side."

It sounded like a quite possible situation, but something at the very back of her mind did not want to agree with such reasoning.

"Or … or maybe you brought someone here, bedded that person, and at some point of the night that girl … because let's be realistic, you're a freaking lesbian," the other part of her subconsciousness provided another thought. "Maybe that girl left recently, leaving her warmth still feelable on the sheets?" the voice continued.

"No, … it would not make any sense," the more pessimistic side of Irelia's mind responded. "She returned in the late evening to that very apartment she's in right now. Nobody followed her, nor anyone was invited to come here, so it isn't an option," the pessimist explained.

"Wait … wait … wait. You want to suggest that …?"

"Yes, it's exactly what I want to say."

"Can you two explain what are you talking about?!" Irelia growled at her subconsciousness deep inside of her mind. "Yeah … I get that it's probably pretty obvious for you, but could you kindly just reveal that secret already?!"

"You're dumb!" the pessimistic part growled. "Who are you drolling over? Who are you most afraid of at the same time?"

"I think there were more than a handful of such people in my life," the officer replied.

"Stupid piece of shit, stupid, useless lesbian!" her mind started to shout at her.

"Ehhh … maybe, I'll tell it to you," the more reasonable part started. "You're talking about the huntress," it added. "And don't even try to tell us that you don't find her attractive."

"I … I … I don't think so … I …" Irelia stuttered.

"For the love of something that is above us, you're even more useless lesbian that I dare to admit!" the sarcastic part of her mind exclaimed loudly. "We're a fucking part of your mind, we're a fucking part of you. We know you even better than you do, so please, cut that shit and admit what we have already stated. You're head over heels in love in her. I don't really know why you're such a masochist, but you find her insanely sexy. You'd want her to dominate you, to pin you to the ground and take you in whichever way she'd please," the sarcastic voice added with a bit of disgust.

"I … I'd never do that, I'd never allowed it to happen!" the officer shouted on top of her lungs. The problem was that her face was red, every inch of it was in the colour of the ripe tomato.

"Are you sure?" the more stoic part asked.

"I'm sure … I'm sure," the pink-haired woman tried to sound convincing, but she failed to do so miserably when she started to stutter.

"Ratt's ass, pfff!" the sarcastic part of Irelia's mind snorted. "Oh … I see that you have a really nice opportunity to show us how much of what we said about you is wrong," the voice giggled. "Bye!"

"What the fuck?!" the soldier growled. "We didn't finish that conversation, come back here you little … you little …"

"Did you just get that loud for me to finish the shower earlier?" the extremely rich, seductive, sarcastic voice reached officer's ears. "I thought that you would be still asleep when I finished refreshing myself, but as we can see, it is not a case."

"Who are you?" Irelia asked immediately. She did not even dare to look at where the voice was coming from.

"Oh … silly me," the voice sounded again, its owner was giggling, "I have not really been using any name for a quite some time now. For those who sent us here, we are just numbers, nothing more," the woman continued. The officer could hear the quiet footsteps coming toward her.

In the very next second, the firm hand was placed under her defined chin. The skin of the intruder was so soft, so delicate, it felt as if it was silk. Strangely, the stranger did not put any force to rise Irelia's head. She did it so gently that the officer did not oppose the action.

Firstly, she saw the wet recently snowy-white towel that was wrapped around the defined figure of the intruder. The stranger took her time adjusting the head of the soldier, making them establish eye contact. With every passing moment, Irelia was admiring the view that was presented before her eyes. As a starved hound, she was devouring every single inch of the stranger's body. She was perfect, or at least in the eyes of the pink-haired. Soon enough, the tower reached its end, revealing wide defined chest with sizeable cleavage. Once her eyes focused on the massive mounds that were being hidden beneath the top part of the fabric, she gasped. Or, at least she thought that she gasped loudly. The officer was not sure whether she left her mouth agape or not. Deep inside of the mind, she prayed that she closed them. It was already a very humiliating situation for the pink-haired, it would be appreciated not to make a bigger fool out of herself than she had already done.

Finally, after what felt like ages, she could see the face of her speaker. It was indeed, the reaper. A couple of inches before her, the huntress was standing half-naked, looking god-damn sexy. "Why it must be her?" she whined in her mind. "Why out of all people in the galaxy, I just fell in love with the woman who killed my friends? Why was it so quick, it feels like I fell when my eyes landed on her for the very first time?" the officer asked a couple of questions more, but as you might expect, there was no answer for them.

"What did you do to me?" the pink-haired asked in a shallow voice.

"If you expect me to answer, you must make the question specific," the woman replied seductively. "By the way … you may call me Akali," she added, "a long time ago I was known under that name."

"Akali … Akali why me? Why did you choose me?" the soldier asked, stuttering a bit.

"My, my, my," Akali chuckled for a few short-living seconds, "you are so cute when you are frustrated or lost," the huntress added. "But, back to your question … you were the only one who did not freak out when I started to cut you down, down below."

"They were my men … I … I needed to get them to safety," Irelia murmured. Then, out of a sudden, the realisation came upon her. "Wait … wait … you bite me yesterday, and I blacked out. How did you manage to do that?"

"Many years ago I was human too," Akali started in a whisper-like manner, "but that times are long gone. My entire body was modified to excel in the hunt, to thrive in battle. I store a soft venom in my teeth that reduces the pain and makes the victim to blackout," the white-haired explained while closing her crimson-red eyes. "I am using it to gain information without shedding blood."

"Eeee … I have never encountered anything like that," the pink-haired replied with her mouth agape. "How did you learn our language?"

"Think about it yourself for a moment. It is not a very difficult answer to find," the huntress replied with her eyes still closed.

"You … you drink it with the blood of your victims?" Irelia mumbled. "But … it still doesn't answer the question. The blood isn't connected with memories, consciousness," the troubled soldier continued.

"The truth is … that I do not really know the details of that process," the assassin confessed quietly. "The one who invented that method that technology is definitely a genius."

"How can … how can I trust you?"

"To some extent, you can not, but if I wanted you dead, you would be lying on the floor, bleeding to death," the white-haired whispered.

"Yeah … I guess so."

"To be frank, it does not really matter whether I tell you the truth or not," the reaper stated.

"And why do you think so?" the surprised officer asked. She wanted to know the answer.

"Because I have two things that you want," Akali replied swiftly.

"And those things are?"

"First of all, you want your people to live happy after, and I told you that in exchange for your help I will let them live."

"You're right," Irelia agreed, lowering her head a bit. "But what about the second thing? I don't think I want anything more than for my men to be safe."

"You are cute, Irelia, you know that?" the huntress giggled. "I drunk your blood, I know everything that was on your head when I bite you. Every detail, every secret, every naughty thought, I know them all," the mischievous smile was flashed. "I know how you feel about me, how it drives you insane to touch me," Akali whispered into the ear of the latter. "I know your every submissive, naughty dream," she chuckled seductively. "After all, it seems that your mind knows you better than you do. You want me to dominate you? I will gladly make that wish come true when your part of a deal is done for. What do you say? Will you help me in exchange for the lives of your men, and … your own desires to be fulfilled?"

"Yes … yes," Irelia whispered. Her throat was parched, to some extent, she thought that the white-haired found a way to control her, to control her mind. The sad part was that it was not a case, in the end, her desires that she tried so desperately to hide, overcame her and took control over her.

"Wonderful," the moan-like response was provided. "Go refresh yourself … when you finish, we will talk about the deal's details, and what I am requesting you to do."

"Yes," was the only word that escaped the throat of the officer. As an obedient student, she stood up, closed the distance to the wardrobe, took some fresh clothes, and then, vanished inside of the bathroom.

"I hope I did not make a mistake choosing her," the white-haired sighed heavily. "If she fucks up her part, it might mean the end for me as well," she added while dropping the towel onto the floor.

A moment later, the huntress sat on the very edge of the bed, then allowed herself to lay entirely onto it. She was completely naked, but it did not bother her. She had a couple of minutes more to relax. And she was going to make good use of it.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's notes:**_

_**Hey, another chapter is here. I hope you enjoyed a bit slower paced chapters, because... we're returning to the action.**_

_**Hope you'll like it :)**_

_**As always, thanks for everything, and see you next time :D**_

* * *

_**Couple minutes later:**_

* * *

Akali tried to relax as much as she possibly could, but something… or maybe someone was bothering her mind. After roughly a minute or so, she jumped off of the bed rapidly. The huntress started to sweat, her eyes went narrow as she was spectating the nearby area. The white-haired woman knew something was off… really off.

The assassin took a couple of deep breaths, she desperately tried to calm her running mind. She needed it to be calm, she needed to be calculated, she needed to be precise.

Without a moment wasted on hesitation, Akali came to the wooden desk. The woman was searching for something. It lasted maybe a fraction of a second. Soon enough, the piece of paper and some pen were grabbed. She started to write down something on it.

_**Half an hour later:**_

* * *

"Akali?" the pink-haired woman called the huntress when she finally finished taking a shower.

She did not get any response. After waiting for a couple of more moments, she left the bathroom. Her hair was still wet, her slender frame wrapped in a soft fluffy greyish towel. It concerned her that the white-haired woman did not say anything back. It felt like she was not even there.

As soon as Irelia reached the main area of the room she was assigned to, she froze. As she had feared, the huntress was gone. The sheets of the bed had been smoothed out most likely by the white-haired woman.

The officer was cluelessly walking around the room for a couple of moments. Finally, she spotted the piece of paper laying on top of the desk. The pink-haired soldier wondered why the hell it was not noticed sooner.

Without an ounce of hesitation or a single thought, the commando trooper came to the furniture and picked up the note. Irelia was holding the piece of paper with both of her hands which caused the towel to spill off of her frame. The last member of the Xan family was standing still completely naked, but she could not care less about such a minor detail. She started to read a neat cursive text.

_`Irelia,_

_I had to leave sooner than I expected. The situation changed drastically, so our plan must follow the change. I will meet you at your apartment at 10pm. Be there, I will take care of your armour and weapons. You can take a nap, train all day, or do whatever you possibly want, but be there at the right time._

_Good luck,_

_Akali_

_PS. I borrowed some of your clothes… damn, they are a pretty tight fit, but I like them. It is still better to look like a slut than to walk around the streets naked.`_

It took no time for her face to become red as soon as she read the additional note. Nearly instantly, the woman closed the distance to her wardrobe. She needed to know what the assassin took from there. "Maybe… it isn't the best idea, Irelia," her subconsciousness told her.

Soon enough she regrated not listening to her own mind. It appeared that the huntress was not the pickiest person in the entirety of the galaxy. Akali just took everything she needed from the very top of her wardrobe, which meant… clothes to spice up the date.

If the officer was red before… than it would be difficult to describe the colour of her face at that very moment. Her mind just ran off. She started to create imaginary scenes with the said huntress in a prime role. She would have to admit… she liked what her mind came up with, but it was embarrassing as well.

"Fuck!" Irelia cursed loudly. "Why the fuck have I read it?" the soldier asked herself rhetorically.

"I should have listened to my very mind," she sighed when as expected, the answer did not come. "Damn… damn you Akali… for being such a sexy woman," Irelia added after a moment later.

Out of a sudden, a minor detail caught her attention. There was something more written on the note you was holding. The text was specially written in a smaller font than the rest of the file. To make it more challenging to find, it was located in the very corner of the paper, precisely under her thumb. As soon as she noticed it, she tried to read one sentence.

It took her a couple of moments to recognise the letters. When she was finally able to understand the meaning of written words, she blushed even harder, if it was still possible.

_` . Do not do anything naughty... I know all too well that you will try to imagine me in those clothes.`_

"Damn you, Akali!" Irelia screamed on top of her lungs when the first wave of shook vanished.

_**Akali's POV (A couple of hours later):**_

* * *

"I must admit, they did a pretty decent job coding that," the white-haired huntress hummed to herself while the last security layer was being breached.

The said woman spent at least 3 - 4 hours sitting on the very top of the council's headquarters to make a breach in the security system. The laptop she had; quite frankly; stolen from one of many IT stores could be described as decent. Still, it would not be enough to perform the required number of operations. She needed to bypass the limitation of the empire's electronics. The assassin managed to do so by attaching a part of her suit to the laptop.

To tell the truth, it would take ages to explain how that self-created system operated. So… instead of it, let's just say that all of the extensive mathematical operations were being executed on the external CPU that was attached to the laptop.

Even though the technology of her people was more advanced than the empire's tech, it was not exactly an easy task to create a breach on all 12 layers of the security system. To slow the process even further, the alert could not be triggered by any part of the system. If it was to happen, the entirety of the access tunnel would be shut down in an instant.

The white-haired woman was slowly losing her patience. Even for her, hours spent in front of the nearly endless blocks of data were exhausting. From time to time, the huntress allowed herself to curse. Slowly she was becoming furious.

After what felt like an eternity, the access codes that she wanted, were obtained. With a heavy sigh, the assassin rose up, deleting any signs of what she was doing on the computer before throwing it off of the building's edge.

"Let's proceed to the second phase," Akali whispered to herself.

_**Akali's POV (An hour later):**_

* * *

"Damn it," the white-haired huntress cursed silently. "I have just borrowed those clothes… fucking vents," she nagged.

"Oh… and here is my next prey," Akali whispered when a short, decently muscular man appeared in her sight.

The assassin allowed the security guard to make exactly 10 more steps before she jumped at him. To say that the man was surprised would be a laughable understatement. In a matter of fractions of a second, he got knocked off. They were off of cameras, all of them had a deadlock at the areas the man was attacked. It was effortless for the woman to pull the stunned guard into the vents. As soon as she managed to do so, she reached for the short blade that was hanging beside her belt.

Akali drew the steel while leaning it. It would be just one quick slash and then a lot of blood, nothing more. When the blade was put onto the man's throat, something unexcepted happened.

The huntress was not able to press the knife forward, she was physically unable to slit through the soft tissue, skin and fat.

For the very first time since… since ever, the white-haired woman hesitated before killing a prey. Some soft voice that she was sure she knew or at least heard before tried to avert the assassin from killing the man.

If anyone could see her at that very moment, that person would probably describe her as a complete frozen. She could not move a single muscle, she could not finish the job. It was pathetic.

Akali would not be able to say how much that state was maintained, but… because of it, the job was fucked up.

The crimson-red-eyed huntress was brought back to reality when the loud, horrific scream reached her ears. For the trained assassin all, it took to locate the source was one single glance of her clod eyes.

It appeared that the member of security guard woke up. With a curse on her lips, she slit his throat as soon as she regained control over her own body.

In the very end, the man met the same fate. His bleeding body was left in the vents, but the environment around the kill changed drastically. Even though the cameras could not have registered the kill, the scream was captured. Just like in an action movie, the corridor below the woman was filled with red lights emanating from the alerts.

"Fuck!" the assassin cursed. "I have fucked up," she added while running through the nearly endless passage.

Akali had a minimal amount of time currently. If she did not manage to reach the armoury, the system would likely shut it down in a few minutes. She did not care anymore if someone saw her, there was no time for that.

The white-haired woman had to run full steam ahead, but to be perfectly frank, she could not.

The security team needed less than 2 minutes to locate her and sent additional soldiers after her. Soon enough, Akali's path was blocked by two massive men armed with electric swords. Based on their appearance, the huntress could say that they participated in quite a few fights before. Still, their experience would not be enough to take her down. Oh… who was she kidding, they would not be enough to slow her down for more than a couple of moments.

Some would say that being overconfident is the very first step of a downfall, but Akali was an exception to that rule. She was so confident because she was thrown into the most dangerous places across the galaxy and survived.

Without slowing down, the assassin attacked. Her speed was unmatched, for most of the people, all it took was a single precise blow. The current situation was not so different from that. The first guard was cut in half before he could even block the blade of the woman. The unpleasant sound of meat being chopped off of the body filled the room in no time. The man's blood was spilt all over the corridor.

The huntress did not stop. As soon as her blade left the body of the first guard, she rushed toward the second one.

This time, the soldier managed to block off her first attack. He smiled with superiority, he thought that all she got was just speed — a grave mistake. Akali punished him nearly instantly. With only a fraction of her strength, the white-haired woman pushed at him. Inch by inch, the man was forced to give the ground to the assassin. Soon enough, his back hit the wall. For a moment shorter than a blink of an eye, the soldier hesitated. It was his last mistake. Before he could regain his composure, he was dead. The huntress twisted his armed hand, then cut it off without breaking the eye contact. The piercing cry of pain ripped out of the man's throat. He closed his eyes, he tried to run away, it was just a futile effort. The white-haired huntress chopped off his remaining arm and both legs before beheading him. Then, as a sign of despise, she kicked still bleeding abrasive a couple of time.

"It was stupid," she complained to herself. "You have just wasted a lot of time," Akali continued while running full speed ahead.

_**Akali's POV (A couple of minutes later):**_

* * *

The assassin was not able to tell for how long the security team allowed her to run freely. But… to be perfectly honest, it would not be an extended period. For her… it seemed as if at every corner, the new enemies were awaiting her. She needed to admit it… with every single fight, she was becoming more and more exhausted, her strength was failing her.

"Akali… just a couple of more minutes," she groaned through the shallow breaths.

With what was left of her energy, she kept running forward as if her life depended on it. To some extent, it was the truth.

_**Akali's POV (A couple of minutes later):**_

* * *

The armoury floor was a mess. The white-haired woman was not sure whether the word 'mess' was sufficient to describe what she was currently seeing. Every inch of the floor, walls, or even celling was covered in blood and guts.

The guards decided to defend the armoury with a team consisted of 10 men. All of them were armed with rifles and melee weapons. All of them with hell lot of experience with killing. But… in the end, they failed. One by one, the huntress killed all of them. Akali must gave them that… it was not an easy fight, hell no. If she was still human, she would die there, there would not be any chances for her to make it out alive.

With her cold eyes, the assassin was watching the scene of the massacre. She was not proud of what she had done, in fact, she did not feel anything, not a single emotion.

Nearly all of the guards were cut into little pieces. So it was a pretty common sight to spot the head or other limb laying dozens of meters away from the rest of massacred body.

She had only two tasks left. First of all, Irelia's equipment must be obtained, then she would have to get out of this freaking fortress.

Akali heard the footsteps behind her. In an instant, her entire frame tensed once again. With little to none effort, she pulled out the dagger from the packet and threw it in the direction of the sound. It reached its target. The sound of a steel piercing through the flesh reached her ears. She missed the spot, though. Instead of agonal groan, the screams of pain and a few curses soon filled the room.

The white-haired huntress drew the blade and charged at her opponent. This time, it was a young blond woman in medium armour and armed with a combat rifle. Akali could clearly see the fear that was lingering in the green eyes of the lone survivor.

The soldier opened the fire. A bullet after a bullet was being dodged by the exhausted assassin. The truth was that the huntress needed to focus on every single projectile in order to avoid it, something that usually would not be the case.

Closing the gap between them took the white-haired woman maybe 2 seconds, 1 second given or taken. With no emotions shown of her face, she cut off the arm of the soldier. The green-eyed woman was trying to crawl her way out of the room, but Akali grabbed her by hair threw into the nearest wall. For the guar maybe it seemed effortless, but for the assassin… she was on her drop of fuel. The blond slipped down the wall, hitting the floor a second later.

The soldier was weeping, whining openly. She must have been in a lot of pain, but Akali did not care. With the blade still drawn, the white-haired huntress came to the wounded guard. She wanted nothing more than to kill her already, grab required equipment, and leave that place. But… as soon as she rose the sword, she froze again.

It was like Deja Vue. Akali could not move a single muscle, she could not kill the woman in front of her. She was powerless.

The calm voice was ringing inside of her mind. As if it was recorded, it was repeating time after time the same sentence.

"You can't kill her. You're still partially human, you still have emotions, don't try to kill them. You don't need to kill her, spare her life, she isn't able to cause you any harm."

The sound of that monotonous voice was driving the assassin insane. She wanted back control over her body. And she wanted it back now.

As through the closed door, Akali heard the shoots. In the very next moment, she felt the familiar metallic aftertaste inside her mouth. She immediately felt weak, and it was getting worse and worse with every passing second.

As through the mist, she saw the wounded soldier trying to fire again, but the mag was empty. Without ejections, without anger, without emotions, without hesitation, she killed the blond with a single slash of the sword.

Akali fell onto her knees. She started to cough with blood. She felt dizzy, her sight was a bit fuzzy. With all remaining energy, the white-haired huntress forced herself to stand up, to spit with the blood that was inside of her mouth, and get back to the last tasks.

_**Akali's POV (An hour later):**_

* * *

When Akali entered the apartment of the officer, she was at a brink of crumbling. She needed to regain at least some of her strength before going back to the slums. With some effort, she somehow managed to slip through the security in the building in her current state. The assassin was beyond exhausted.

"Akali?" the soft voice of Irelia called her.

"No way… it can not be!" Akali screamed in her mind.

"What's going on?" the officer asked.

"I… I… I…," the huntress started to stutter.

"What the hell happened to you?!" the pink-haired soldier screamed.

"I… I got your stuff back…" the assassin managed to mumbled before collapsing onto the floor.

"Akali, Akali, Akali!" Irelia started to shout while trying to pick up the white-haired woman from the ground.

"It was her," the lone whispered sentence filled the room.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Author's notes:**_

_**Hey... I want to present the newest chapter of the Black Diamond story. This time... it's a bit more tensed... maybe a little bit intimate :)  
Hope you'll like it :D**_

_**As always thanks for everything... and see you next time :)**_

_**Btw... I'll start writing the next chapter of 'My home is where my heart lies' probably tomorrow.**_

* * *

_**Irelia's POV (A couple of moments later):**_

If someone had a privilege to spectate the current scene, that person would probably describe it as a messy at minimum. Akali's blood was covering the vast part of the apartment's floor. The pink-haired officer that was struggling to pick up the assassin from the ground. The same person would most likely describe Irelia as panicked, and... it would not be wrong. To be perfectly honest, it would be an understatement. The soldier was so freaked out.

Irelia did not know what to do. As soon as Akali collapsed, she was at her side. The commando trooper was seeing blood everywhere, to some extent, it was also covering her body due to contact with the wounded woman.

The very first thought that crossed the mind of the pink-haired woman was to pick up the assassin and place her onto a bed. Then... she could start thinking about dealing with her injuries. Sadly, it was no longer an option. Even though Akali looked like pretty much normal human being, she weighted too much for Irelia to handle.

With her mind on a run, the soldier tried to come up with some way to help the wounded woman. Of course, she could tend to her while she was currently lying, but it would be uncomfortable for both of them.

Irelia sniffed again. Her nostrils picked up the stench of blood, sweat and dirt nearly instantly. The captain's facial expression twisted slightly due to the smell. "Maybe taking you to the shower could do the trick?" she hummed under her breath.

As she had thoughts, she did. With a great effort, she managed to bring the white-haired huntress to her bathroom. She must admit that pulling Akali's body on the floor was not the easiest task in her life. Just one single last pull, and… the assassin was in front of the shower stall.

The pink-haired soldier sighed heavily, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. "On step complete," she whispered.

As life usually do, one problem was resolved, so another needed to arise.

The current problem of Irelia was how to clean the huntress. One option was to simply drag the unconscious woman into the stall and switch on the water. The disadvantage of such an approach was the fact that not everything would be cleaned. Even though the clothes would be soaked with water pretty quickly, the blood and dirt would still remain inside of the clothing. The other option was to undress Akali and drag her into the shower. It was a better idea in so many aspects, but there were still at least two major problems associated with that.

First of all, the same problem that would occur with the previous method, the water would not clean everything. If one thought about it more, it would not be wise to let liquid of unknown origin to enter wounds. That argument was enough for Irelia to discard that idea, to tell the truth. But… there was still the second problem that bothered the soldier even more so.

If she was to proceed with that plan… Irelia would have to undress Akali entirely. Even lone thought about that was enough to make the pink-haired woman blush. In fact, it was a very tempting option, but she was acting like a virgin before her first time. It was not like Akali did not know about Irelia's naughty nighttime fantasies that included her. No… the white-haired told her that face to face.

The third and final idea that she came up with was even more bothersome to Irelia. If it was even possible, the cheeks of the officer became warmer. She was so embarrassed, but at the same time, so turned on.

If she wanted to properly take care of Akali, she would need to clean her herself. As you might expect… it would require her to be present in the stall, to her naked form pressed into the firm muscles of the huntress, to have her hands on Akali. Most people would kill for such an opportunity. To have a chance to spend some time with their crush alone, naked. Irelia was not entirely sure if she could keep her hands to herself. She was not sure whether she would be able to just perform required actions, no to distract herself.

"Uuuu… it'd be so good to touch her properly. To grab those mounds, squeeze them, maybe even give a little pinch?" Irelia fantasized. "I'd pretty much want to touch those buttocks, they look so desirable," she continued.

"What the fuck? Irelia? Are you fucking idiot?" she kept on shouting at herself deep inside her mind. "We all know that you - and by that we mean we - are useless lesbian, but that's enough. Help her… she promised you a reward, didn't she?"

"Ghhhh… yeah, I know," she whispered once she regained control over herself.

Without nothing more to think about, to say, she allowed herself to look at wounded huntress with unmasked desire. After that… it was high time for her to start helping.

Discarding her own clothes has never taken her less time than in that very situation. The visual effect of her desires, of her horny, naughty thought could be spotted on the fabric of her own clothing. She blushed as soon as she noticed the wet spots on her undies.

Soon enough, Irelia was as naked as at the day she was welcomed to that sorrowful world. The next task, undress the assassin, difficulty, impossible.

To finally get rid off of damaged clothes that the white-haired woman borrowed, took the soldier at least a couple of minutes, and more than a handful of tries.

The hesitation before removing huntress underwear lasted maybe a couple of moments. Still, in her mind… oh… it could last forever, and she would not mind that.

Irelia sat down onto the floor in the further corner of the stall. Between her thighs, the naked white-haired assassin was seated. The warm water was pouring down onto them, but the pink-haired officer could not muster any power to proceed with her plan. To be perfectly honest, she was not entirely sure whether some parts of her body were wet because of the shower, or because of other factors…

After what felt like ages, the soldier reached out for the sponge, poured some soap on it, then refocused on Akali. "It would be easier if it was anyone else but her," the officer sighed heavily. The soft skin of the white-haired woman was slightly shinning because of the water that was poured down onto her. Irelia pulled her as close to her own bosom as she could… She believed that by doing so, she could avoid eyeing everything that she so much wanted to witness.

As could be expected, it was not a successful plan. Irelia blushing really hard was sneaking a peak from time to time, delaying completing the task that she had given herself even further. She could not do anything about that, Akali's body was so intoxicating for her. Those firm, defined muscles that were visible through the thin skin, was making her doubt herself self-control more and more.

The pink-haired soldier knew that in the end, she would not win with her body, with her desire. She proceeded with the washing them. Unintentionally… she began by pressing the soft sponge to the massive mounds of Akali. Her second hand seized the opportunity and grabbed one of the huntress's breasts, and squeezed it lightly. It was inappropriate without a single doubt, but the naughty mind of Irelia tried to reason the action. After all, the hand was put there to hold the unconscious woman still. Of course… it was not placed there because of the irritating heat that was being formed in her belly… and deep down in her labia.

Irelia was embarrassed, but without a single thought, she continued what she was doing. With every single wipe, few inches of the light skin were being covered in soapy foams. The little wholesome smile could be spotted on the lips of the soldier.

As the washing progressed, Irelia's heart was beating faster and faster. She felt like a junkie, or like a drunk. The sensation was pretty unique, intensive, intoxicating. If it was even possible, her face was becoming warmer with every passing second. The fire that was burning deep down inside of her was threatening to explode.

"You'll go through it," she was repeating to herself as if in some kind of trans. "It's nothing major… it's just Akali… not someone that you don't know," she tried to reason.

It was fruitless. The white-haired huntress was the one to blame for the death of nearly all of her men. She was the one who mocked her, lured her, seduced her… but Irelia was too much involved currently to back down.

The officer sighed heavily for god-knows which time. The assassin's matter was not easy in any aspect, some ifs were not explained, some questions were not answered. Still, just like a good loyal puppy, the pink-haired woman was following Akali's plan.

With a bit of frustration, Irelia threw away the sponge. The woman allowed herself to observe as the object was flying for a brief moment before falling down onto the flooded tiles.

Yet another sigh, and then her eyes focused onto the beauty that was sitting with wrapped in the pink-haired woman's arms. With the blood and the dirt wiped away from the white-haired huntress's skin, she looked even more gorgeous. To Irelia, she was a sight to behold.

As if something clicked deep inside the soldier's mind, Akali's head was pulled back slightly. The move allowed the officer to look at the kissable lips of the huntress. She leaned in. She did not care anymore, she felt like she needed to do that.

Just like in some kind of action movie, time seemed to slow down drastically. Irelia's lips descended onto Aali's. In the very first moment, she moaned. The assassin tasted as she had dreamt… she could not get enough of her.

Irelia did not even notice when she closed her eyes. The kiss felt too good to be real. She felt as if she was dreaming.

After some time, she pulled back. The soldier only did it because her lungs were screaming for air, she would not be able to continue the kiss anyway. As if in torpor, she touched her mouth. The taste of the huntress was still there. They were still a little swollen do to the intensive, pleasurable encounter.

When the giggling sound reached her ears, the officer opened her eyes immediately.

"My…my…my, what a naughty soldier I had a pleasure to meet," Akali said in a teasing tone. "I knew that it'd be a challenge for you to keep your hands away from my body… but, I thought that you might control yourself," the white-haired woman giggled, standing up slowly.

"I promised you that I'll fulfil your desires when you're done with the work, didn't I?" Akali chuckled after a moment. Her right hand reached the chin of the soldier and lifted it up slightly. "I know how much you love my body… so, now you can have a better look," she added while standing right in front of her.

"I… I…" Irelia stuttered.

"Cat got your tongue?" the assassin teased. "Or… maybe you don't like what you see?"

"NO!" the pink-haired woman denied, gesturing with her hands.

"That's what I wanted to hear," Akali replied. She slowly leaned in, picked up the chin of the latter again, turned it to the side slightly. "It seems that I need to give you some sort of prepayment, hmm?" the white-haired woman whispered seductively.

"What do you mean?!" the slightly terrified soldier asked.

"Hmm… let me think… what have you dreamt about, what was in your wet dream?" the huntress responded while wearing a mischievous smile practically glue to her face.

"Ehhh…" Irelia gulped. "I…I…"

"Oh, my… baby… you don't have to tell me that. I already know what lies deep inside your mind. I'm going to let that fantasies of yours become a reality a little faster than I planned," the white-haired assassin interrupted the officer's response with a sweet tone, and exposed fangs.

"Uuuuu…. I… I don't think it's the right time," the pink-haired woman laughed hysterically.

"Ohh…" Akali scoffed. "I believe that it's a perfect time for that," she added. "You're mine now… After we finish here, we might need to talk about our partnership a little, but for now… I'm going to repay you for your hospitality and care."

"You…"

Without wasting even a second of precious time, Akali picked up the soldier from the tiles, turned her around, then pushed her nearly gently against the wall of the stall. The gasp of the pink-haired woman only aroused her. The firm right hand of the huntress slapped Irelia's butt. The slap was not too powerful, not too soft, just perfect for turning on both of them.

"Akali!" Irelia squeaked.

"Shhhh…" the white-haired woman silenced the latter. "We have only just begun," she giggled.

Before Irelia could even react, the skilful fingers of the huntress found their way to the officer's sensitive clit. Within fractions of a second, she moaned when the assassin started to work on the poor clit of the latter. Soon enough, the first digit entered her pussy.

Irelia screamed… but then, the pleasure came.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Author's notes:**_

_**Here's the 10th chapter.**_

_**As always... thanks for all, and see you next time :)**_

_**Btw, I'm going to focus on rewriting the earliest chapters of most of my stories. "My home is where my heart lies", is probably going to be the first one I'll be working on.**_

_**2020.10.14 - preview.  
2020.10.18 - entire chapter.**_

* * *

_**Irelia's POV (sometime later):**_

* * *

"Are you going to sleep whole day?" the question asked in a giggle-like manner woke up the pink-haired officer.

"Aghhh…" Irelia whined as soon as she felt her numb, stiff muscles. "What did you do to me?" she managed to whisper.

"Haha…" came Akali's giggle. "Nothing… that you would not want me to do," the assassin added.

Even though Irelia could not see the huntress… she was more than certain that the woman was winking at her. She still could feel the firm arms of the woman being wrapped around her waist. The warmth was so pleasant that she did not want to wake up or to press forward.

"I… I don't think so," the pinked-haired woman scoffed.

"Hmmm… do you really want me to toy with your pretty little pink clit again?" Akali hummed, then burst into laughter.

"No!" Irelia squeaked. "Hands off of my clit… I'm too sensitive… right now," she mumbled afterwards.

"Ohhh… I wonder who's doing it is," the huntress chuckled.

"I hate you!" the soldier whispered, trying to hide her blushing face.

"Maybe… maybe you want to be in control this time?" the sudden seductive question reached Irelia's ears. "Maybe… maybe you would want to play with my body this time?"

"Uhhh… I… uhhh… I think…" the officer was mumbling.

"You are such a cute human being… you know that?" the assassin giggled while she slowly rose up from the bed. "I do not feel like I am going to ever get tired of that game… you are too easy to tease, and I love that fact," she added.

Akali began to stretch right before the eyes of the pink-haired woman. The huntress was still naked, but that little detail did not phase her even in slightest. With a sly smile all over her face, she was observing Irelia's reaction. As she anticipated, it took very little time for the cheeks of the soldier to become red. Irelia seemed to be fighting against her very own mind and desires. On the one hand, she wanted to avert her gaze off of the huntress's perfect sexy body, on the other, she was unable to do so.

"I think… I learnt a new phrase that describes you perfectly," the quiet laughter of Akali reached Irelia's ears.

"Hmmm?" the special ops trooper hummed. "Do I really want to know what you have on your mind?" she asked in a little bit insecure tone.

"Oh… about that, I am pretty sure of," Akali replied in a cool tone.

"Go on then," the officer sighed.

"The term I learnt about is…" the huntress started. "Useless lesbian, and to me, it fits perfectly in your case," the white-haired woman chuckled.

The wide smirk that was already visible on her beautiful face only widened as soon as the officer hid her head under the warm blanket.

"You see… I was right," Akali giggled.

"I hate you…" the pink-haired woman murmured.

"Oh… I doubt that, or you love-hate me… then it's fine," the huntress responded.

"Why are you making me feel weird?" the quiet question was uttered.

"I think you meant to say – 'Why are you making me feel gay?' – another thing that I learnt in this world of yours," the white-haired woman giggled.

"Vanish… and never return!" Irelia squeaked.

The sheets and the pillow were pulled off of Irelia's head. As might be expected, Akali stood a couple of steps away from her. She was still as naked as on the day she was born. "It was to be expected, wasn't it?" the soldier asked herself deep inside her mind. There was no sound of rustling clothes that could be associated with changing up. Irelia wanted so badly to looked away, but… she was not allowed to. Within a moment shorter than a fraction of a second, the assassin closed the gap between them entirely. The white-haired woman straddled her and put her frim hands to use. One of them cupped the chin of the officer, forcing Irelia to keep staring at the beautiful face of the huntress. In the same time, the other hand pinned the pink-haired woman to the bed.

"Shhh…" Akali silenced the latter. "I think… that there was enough of the fluff already, we should focus on the business, shall we?"

"If you say so," Irelia replied with a roll of her eyes. "I don't have much choice, do I?"

"Darling… darling… darling, you have no choice at all," the white-haired woman giggled quietly. "We have already discussed our little bargain… so let's omit that part and go straight into details," she added in a cold professional tone.

"Go on, then," the soldier replied.

"I need you to be a bait for someone," the assassin said bluntly.

"Why me? If it's just a case of being a bait, why didn't you choose someone else?" the surprised pink-haired woman asked.

"I told you that before, you are not afraid of being killed, you will not run away from the danger," the huntress replied, softening her grip upon the chin of the latter. "I need you to lure my target to the exact place. I am more than certain that if I chose anyone but you, that person would try to run away, ruining the whole plan," she explained after taking a prolonged breath.

"Who's your target then?" Irelia wanted to know.

"You see… it is not an easy answer to provide," the red-eyed woman chuckled. "To answer it… I must tell you my story, or at least a part of it."

"One of my friends thought that you're a part of some sort of ritual, or some sort of tribal trial," the pink-haired woman whispered. "Is that even remotely close to the truth?"

"Ahhh… I remember that memory," Akali said after a moment or two of thinking. "She was closer to the truth that she anticipated, I must get her that," she giggled. "The truth is that…" the assassin hesitated for a fraction of a second. "The truth is that my target is or rather was my mentor. He was the one who kidnapped me when I was little. You saw him already… he is not human, I forgot the name of his race, but they are like the mix of a human and feral beast," she began her story after a pause.

"You're talking about that big cat that chased Mark, am I right?" the officer asked.

"Yes… you saw there two additional huntresses… some sort of colleagues of mine," the crimson-eyed woman slowly replied. "Nidalee, Caitlyn are their names. I have not gotten any message from them since I moved to the upper city," she added.

"You think that they're in danger?"

"They are most likely dead by now," Akali responded. "Rengar, my master was chewing what remained of another hunter who was sent after him. His name was Yi," the huntress explained. "To be perfectly honest, the whole situation here is just a big tribal trial. All 4 of us came to the age of adulthood, so we must be put into the final test — a really savage and brutal one."

"Wait… you're trying to tell me that you were asked to kill that freaking beast that you just called Rengar?" the terrified commando trooper asked.

"To simplify that… yes," the short answer was provided. "But there is more depth into it," she sighed heavily.

"Then… maybe explain that to me?"

"I have no other choice," Akali answered, lying down next to the officer. "The philosophy of the trial is quite complex… but, it can be simplified. Rengar was a blade master, it is a very high and respected position in my society. He was responsible for killing people who were a threat to the council," the woman began explaining. "It is something like your government," she added when Irelia looked surprised at her. "He and all of his proteges had one more responsibility… they were forced to find new recruits that could potentially surpass them in the future. As far as I am aware, in the beginning, the recruits came only from Rengar's race, but with time, that rule was modified. Every one of them could have any numbers of students, after all, the council was paying for their living. The only task that was put before them was to train those students, prepare them for a trial," Akali took a deep breath, pausing for a moment.

"In most cases, it was a master who decided when his or her students were ready," she continued. "I was allowed to do a bit of research about that topic, but to be frank… I found only a little. In nearly all cases, the masters were waiting for their youngest pupils to reach adulthood before gathering them all and put them through the final challenge. Rengar had only 4 students, me, Nidalee, Caitlyn, Yii. I was the youngest of them, so he waited for me to be of age," the white-haired woman stopped once again.

"He brought us all before the council," the huntress started after a minute or so. "We were utterly clueless about what was going on, but to them… it did not really matter. After Rengar presented us to the old beasts that rule our society, he was dismissed. The rules of the trial were explained by the youngest member of the council. He was the only one of them, who did not look at us as a hunter at his prey. In theory, the task ahead of us seemed to be easily accomplishable. Still, as you might know, the devil is hidden in details," Akali whispered. "We were to kill our mentor, the problem was that none of us could match him in a one-on-one fight, and we were not taught how to work as a unit. So… basically, he did not say that aloud, but they wanted us to fight each other, to sharpen our fighting skills. When there would be only one of us still taking a breath – the winner – they expected that person to face off with Rengar," she added in a grave tone. "They did not care how many young lives would be wasted, the only thing that they cared for was a winner, a better hunter than the sacrificed master," she paused.

"It sounds horrible!" Irelia exclaimed loudly. "How could they do something like that to you?"

"Haven't I said it already?" the surprised huntress asked. "They are beasts, all they crave for is to obtain as much power as they can. They can only assure that if there are many powerful soldiers behind them. They use the natural selection to ensure that what they are left with at the end, is the best they could have in the given moment."

"But… but…"

"There are no buts there, Irelia," the assassin said softly. "The universe is cruel, and its rules by even more cruel and vicious creatures. It is not a myth… it is a sad truth," she added in a sad tone. "It is not very different from your rules, after all, they sent you for a suicide mission. They sent you and your team to hunt me."

"I agree… I agree with you to some extent," Irelia mumbled. "But… it isn't entirely true…"

"You will still defend them, will you?" Akali chuckled. "It is not unexpected tho."

"What do you mean?"

"Irelia…" the huntress called her name most softly. "You are an idealist… if you were taught something, you would believe it… worse… you would hold to it as a hopeless man who puts his trust in a razor's edge," the woman continued. "You are perfectly aware that your supervisors allowed the remnants of your team to stay in the upper city only because they saw an opportunity in that. They sent the regular military to the slums."

"Yes… I know that they sent those poor bastards without even mentioning or explaining the current situation," the officer sighed heavily.

"There is more to that… don't you think?" the white-haired woman asked. "They are using the numbers to search vast areas of the slums… but, they are seeking for Rengar or me, they are seeking potential recruits. Your government need meat that can be easily replaced. After all… have you heard how many of those little soldiers died already?" she continued without waiting for the soldier's response.

"Ehh… last time I checked… there were at least 200 confirmed cases… and another 100 MIA's," Irelia replied in a breaking voice.

"Pfff…" the huntress scoffed. "As far as I know, there are at least 1000 dead soldiers, maybe even more. On the other hand… your supervisors managed to recruit at least 50000 of the poor, so for them… it is still a net victory," she added.

"That's beastly!" the soldier commented. "How do you even know that?"

"Have you already forgotten?"

"Through… through my blood? That's how you know all of this?" Irelia said, her entire frame was trembling.

"Yes… I have explained that before. I do not know why are you acting so strangely all out of sudden?" Akali focused her burning red eyes on the officer. "You are scared?"

"Yes… I'm scared, what else you know about me?"

"Isn't it the safest to assume that I know everything?" the assassin giggled.

"So… it's safe to assume that you'll end up sacrificing me?" the pink-haired woman whispered while tears started to run down her cheeks.

"Listen!" the crimson-red-eyed woman said. She grabbed the right hand of the soldier before forcing her to look at her burning eyes. "You might not believe me… but, if I promise something, I will make sure to fulfil it. I am not a coward… I am not a lier!" she added in a slightly risen tone.

"I… I'm…"

"Silence!" Akali ordered. "You do not have to apologise… all I ask from you is to obey my commands," the woman whispered in a cold tone. "Now… get up and dress up, we are leaving this part of the city as soon as you are ready," she uttered.

Without a moment of hesitation, the white-haired woman released Irelia's hand out of her iron grip and stood up. Akali did not spare the pink-haired officer another glance, she just headed to the bathroom. As soon as the sounds of running water reached Irelia's ears, she knew it was high time to get up.

Even though her muscles still did not recover fully, she did not have a choice. She was to follow the beautiful assassin. She was to return to the darkness of the slums. The real question was, whether she had enough courage to do what was planned for her. Sadly… she did not know the answer, and by the look of things, she would not be provided with one.

The officer sighed heavily. It was going to be a hell of a challenge for her. About that… she was pretty much sure of.

_**Irelia's POV (2 hours later):**_

* * *

It was already a late evening when they reached the top level of the highest building in the city. The insignificant cold wind was blowing. "I should have taken a coat, I'm freaking freezing here," Irelia sighed in her mind. Before them in some distance, their target could be seen.

"You're sure of this?" Irelia quietly asked while staring at the direction her so-called partner pointed out.

"It is a problem, indeed, but… I think it will only slow us down for a couple of minutes," Akali nonchalantly replied. "There are only 5 guards there. If you want, you can stay here and let me handle that little problem of ours my way," she added.

"Is there a way to avoid bloodshed?" the pink-haired woman asked, but she already knew the answer. The huntress's eyes went dark… they became primal, she was out for blood. "Fine," Irelia gave up. "Please… don't make them suffer longer than it's necessary."

"Why do you care for these humans that much?" the assassin wanted to know.

"If you have already forgotten… I'm human too," the offended soldier replied. "I still have feelings… I'm not a killing machine like you. I can't just watch as people are being killed in front of me with a huge smile on my lips!" she threw out all the accumulated negatives. "If you have to kill them… go ahead, but do it cleanly and quickly, and most importantly, don't expect me to witness that!" the sassy response was provided.

The huntress closed the gap between them in a matter of second. She grabbed the neck of the soldier before leaning in.

"You can speak as sassy as you want to," the red-eyed beauty said through her sharp teeth. "But… deep down you know that you will still end up looking at me because I am like a drug to you," she whispered in a much softer tone. "You can pretend that you do not like killing… but, as long it is associated with me and my sexy ass, you will end up staring."

"You're… you're… you're unbelievable!" the officer squeaked, blushing hard. "Why are you always affecting me that much!" she nagged in a pitful tone.

"That is a question to yourself, isn't it?" the white-haired woman chuckled while softening her grip upon the neck of the pink-haired soldier. "I do not really know why you fall so hard, but… it does not really matter much right now. We have a task ahead of us."

"I guess… you're the only one who would do something like that," Irelia whispered. "Akali?"

"I am still focused entirely on you," the huntress uttered. "What do you want from me?" she sighed, then asked the question.

"If… if… if I mean anything to you… please, just, please don't let them suffer for too long," the officer said in a really low tone. The tears started to form once again in the corners of her eyes.

"Ehhh… you will get me killed one day," the assassin replied, letting her go. "Just do not cry… they are not worthy of your tears. I will end their lives as smoothly as I can. I promise this," the white-haired woman promised, then turned around.

"It is time for me…" she started but was interrupted by Irelia.

"Thank you," the officer whispered while pressing her face between shoulder's blades of the assassin. "You have no idea… how much it means to me," she added, then wrapped her arms around the exposed midriff of the white-haired woman.

"I really must get going," Akali uttered quietly after a couple of moments. "I can not say that I do not enjoy the warmth of your body, but there is a task ahead of me. Till… till it is not finished, I can not allow myself to rest. I hope you understand that."

"Wasn't it easier to just say – 'I love you'?" Irelia asked teasingly. "But… I understand. But you're mistaken in one detail. It's no longer your task… it's ours," she added confidently.

"Ummm…" the surprised huntress only managed to gasp. "Thank you," she added after the initial shock was gone.

"Go," Irelia encouraged the huntress to press on. "I'll be watching your back from here… in case you screw something up," she giggled.

"I need to get going, or I will need to rip that tongue of yours," Akali replied in a playful tone. "You are becoming more and more daring… to some extent, I already miss that blushing mess that you were not so long ago."

"You know… there is saying among my people," the pink-haired officer started. "The easiest translation of that is if you're staying close with someone… in some time you're becoming alike," she giggled. "I can only become as bold and daring as you're Akali."

"Ehhh… I hope I will not see that day," the assassin sighed. "Hey, watch my back," she uttered, then winked at the soldier, and after a second or so, she was gone.

Irelia rested on the railing that was located on the top level of some not particularly interesting building. From the place was currently standing, she could watch a decent part of the city due to the height difference. But… most importantly, she was able to watch the entrance to the city elevator. To be perfectly honest, there were 20 such places scattered across the entirety of the upper city. Since she returned from her failed mission… all of these entrances were being guarded 24/7 by the members of the regular military.

Akali was not a fool, she must have gathered some pieces of information about every one of them. There was no chance that she just randomly chose that particular outpost. If she was her, she would choose the facility with the least security assigned to it. To some extent,… it sounded a bit surreal. After all, all of the elevators could be used the same way and provided the same output. It was a fascinating detail that there was a significant difference in the strength of the unit assigned to the various points.

As far as Irelia was informed by the red-eyed assassin, there were at max 10 soldiers guarding that particular entrance. All of them were pretty much fresh after the academy, so to be frank, they would not post any threat to the huntress. To some extent, she pitted those soldiers, they did not know what was coming their way. They were too young to die, but in the end, what she could do… nothing.

Irelia took the binoculars and started to watch her so-called 'partner'. As was to be expected, Akali reached the bottom level of the facility in record time. If she wanted, she could be near invisible to anyone. A couple of meters above her, there was a single soldier who was resting on the wall. His cap was pulled down, hiding his eyes. He was probably trying to catch some sleep. "Too bad," Irelia thought.

"He is asleep?" Akali asked through their mental connection.

"Yes," the officer simply replied.

"I will break his neck… he is not going to feel anything," the huntress said. "Satisfied?"

"Yes… go ahead."

Without an ounce of hesitation, red-eyed beauty started to climb the wall. Within maybe a few seconds, maybe a little longer, she reached the level where the soldier was sleeping. With a real cat's grace, the white-haired woman closed the distance between her and the sleeper. Irelia saw a quick action of her partner's firm hands, and the man was dead. His still warm body collapsed on the cold floor lifelessly.

In nearly the same moment, a door located maybe 50 meters away from Akali opened and two soldiers left the building.

"Akali!" Irelia squeaked. "Hide the body, there are two men 50 metres away from you!"

"Affirmative," the white-haired replied.

By looking at Akali's figure, it was pretty easy to forget that she was far stronger than most men in their prime. The pink-haired soldier gasped loudly when the huntress picked up the dead body from the floor and jumped with it to the point's next floor. For her, it seemed as if the dead man weight pretty much nothing. When the red-eyed assassin made sure that no one was nearby, she laid the corpse gently on the cold stone.

Without wasting any time, she rushed toward the railing. The huntress allowed herself to look over the edge of the floor. The mentioned soldiers were the target she was seeking.

"They're on your left… maybe 10 – 20 metres away from you," Irelia informed her so-called partner.

"Thank you. Note that this time, I will not be able to kill them without shedding some blood," Akali said in a cool tone.

"I know… do what you need to do," the pink-haired soldier replied.

It seemed that the huntress did not want to waste any time more. In the very next second, Irelia could see her standing on the railing and preparing her deadly blades. The officer allowed herself to blink one time, and it was over. Akali jumped to the level under her, catching the attention of the surprised soldiers in an instant. Sadly for them… the assassin did not allow them to react. She simply did not give them enough time to do so. Each of the sharp, deadly blades of the huntress found its way toward the neck of the men. As if skin, fat, muscles and bones were butter, the steel pierced through them like a hot knife. Just a moment later, the two heads hit the stone followed by the bodies.

Irelia focused on the assassin. She was smiling, her eyes once again went dark. It must have been the true nature of Akali. The living goddess of the hunt did not rest for long. Before the officer could say anything, the white-haired rushed toward the nearest door, vanishing a moment later.

She lost the assassin from her sight. The soldier wanted to see what was going on. So… she tried to regain the connection between them. After a moment, her mind started to be flooded by the images of the slaughter. Their mental connection could be considered useful sometimes, desired in the other times. Still, in the rare moments like current, it was just a curse.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Author's notes:**_

_**Here's the 11th chapter of the story.**_

_**Hope you'll enjoy it ;)**_

_**As always, thanks for all, and see you next time :D**_

_**2020.11.07 - preview posted.  
2020.11.11 - a whole chapter released.**_

* * *

_**Irelia's POV (a couple of moments later):**_

* * *

Even though Irelia has seen bloodshed before, has seen many fights, she was not prepared for what Akali was about to do. The word 'slaughter' would not entirely describe the assassin's doing, but yet... it was the most accurate word. With her eyes filled with fear, Irelia was watching the rampage of the huntress. As she probably mentioned before, their connection could be a gift or curse based on the situation. And... currently, it was as if some gods unleashed their fury onto this world. The white-haired huntress was the representation of said wrath.

"Akali, please, stop," the officer pleaded in a whisper-like manner.

A moment later, the pink-haired woman fell onto her knees. She desperately tried to cover her eyes, as if it would stop the flood of images that were coming from Akali.

_**Akali's POV (a couple of moments earlier):**_

* * *

If someone had a chance to witness the huntress currently, it would not be a surprise for her to be called 'monster'. Even though she looked similar to humans, the woman certainly did not act like one. In fact, it would not be an understatement to call her 'monster'.

For the white-haired assassin, the time seemed to be frozen. Her mind was not working currently, after all, she did not control her body anymore. Akali was conscious, but she could do little to none to prevent what was happening before her eyes. For the crimson-red-eyed woman, it seemed as if some feral part of her very being took reign over a steering wheel.

As through the fog, the images of what was going on around her were flooding Akali's mind. She needed to do anything in her power to regain control. And… she needed to find out a method to do so quickly before it was going to be too late.

The huntress body was a killing machine. If anyone doubted that, that person was a fool. It was reacting on its own, it was relying on instincts. As soon as the assassin entered the outpost building, she hid behind the nearest wall. Her muscles tensed up, her ears tried to hear the soldiers still staying inside. The silence lasted maybe a minute or so, but then, the sounds of people running in heavy boots reached her. Immediately, the nasty smile appeared on Akali's face. Every single inch of her was screaming – 'it is hunting time'. A couple of deep breaths were used to steady the breathing pattern to calm down the mind. She was ready, her prey definitely not.

The huntress allowed herself to wait a few prolonged moments more. With every single passing second, the noises of the running soldiers were louder and closer. Soon, the patience of the huntress shall be rewarded.

"Mike, Mike, Mike, damn it. Do you copy?!" the flustered manly voice could be heard.

"Brand… he's dead most likely," another voice stated. The white-haired assassin could sense fear in his voice. "We really should call for reinforcements," he added after a second or so.

"Damn it, Greg!" the first voice shouted. "We were ordered to take care of this elevator station, and we'll do it. Brand, Pete, cover me," he ordered.

"Fine," the scared soldier responded. "The door is just past this corner."

"Alright, let's make it quick," the third voice sounded. This one was so different from others. The man was neither scared nor angry.

"Experienced one, hmm?" the huntress hummed deep inside her mind.

"I'm coming first, cover me," the first voice stated.

"Clear, you can go," the two other soldiers said at the same time.

Without making a sound, the shortest blade was pulled out of its cover. The white-haired woman was only waiting for the man to enter the room where the doors were located. The nasty smile was never fading away out of her face. The huntress seemed to be lost in some kind of primal desire.

The patience of the assassin was slowly running out. She wanted blood, and she could not wait a single moment more to spill it. The firm hand was clenched on the weapon's handle.

Finally, after what felt like ages, in the doorways, the figure of a tall man appeared. He was wearing an enhanced armour that was covering the entirety of his broad chest. Underneath it, the presumably casual military uniform could be spotted. If the huntress did not try to hide her presence, she would undoubtedly scoff. These materials would not stand a chance against her blade.

The presumable officer was so confident that the room was empty that he did not bother to check it up. Akali allowed him to take exactly 3 steps before she rushed from the corner of the room. The soldier did not even have a chance to react. As soon as the huntress's impact knocked him off his feet, she gasped, dropping his combat rifle. Within the next 2 or 3 seconds, he died. Akali did not waste any time, the short straight blade pierced through the chest plate without any problem, reaching the heart of the man. The death was swift, one more gasped, and the officer was left cold on the floor.

The two men who were supposed to cover the officer were starring at the huntress with their wide eyes. Maybe 3 or 4 seconds took them to process the information about what was going on. As soon as it happened, they started to fire at the assassin without an ounce of hesitation.

"Zven, Zven, code red!" the very tall black man shouted into the intercom. "We have casualties… I repeat we have casualties. At minimum Brand is dead, possibly Mike," he added, the fear was filling his voice.

The huntress dodged the firing without many problems. She chose to run away through the door. Of course, she could just kill them where they were standing, but then, she would have to search every single inch of the facility for the survivors. By allowing the black-skinned soldier to report the encounter, she made sure that all of the stationed soldiers would run to help their comrades. And… that, was what Akali's primal side wanted to accomplish. The woman allowed herself to chuckled quietly, after all, everything was going according to the plan.

It was all too know to the huntress that those soldiers would not try to hunt her down before their backup came. Without anything better to do, the beauty started to pick the right weapon with which she was going to kill the men hidden behind the thick doors.

On the other hand, the mind was Akali was screaming. She did not want to do that. It was meant to be a quick and quiet mission. But somehow, all went wrong. She was supposed to go in and out, taking the least lives as she could. Yet… here she was, waiting for the men to gather, waiting for the opportunity to butcher them without an ounce of mercy.

"Let me take back control!" Akali was screaming but to no avail.

Soon enough, the rest of the stationed soldiers came. It was so easy to tell, they were too loud, too chaotic for their own good. The white-haired assassin did not opt to listen to their conversation this time. To be perfectly honest, she did not care what they were discussing. All she cared for was them to come to her.

After a couple of prolonged moments, Akali heard that they were closing the distance to the doors. She smiled. Without hesitation, the huntress climbed to the next level, making sure to be as quiet as possible. The moment, the assassin decided to rest her weight onto the railing, the doors below her opened. Two small items were thrown to the open. The white-haired woman chuckled before closing her eyes. When the objects exploded, the assassin waited for a couple of more seconds before opening her eyes. As she expected, at least 15 soldiers exited the facility and were currently scanning the area in search of her.

To some extent, it was ridiculous that none of them thought about looking or even sparing a glance at the level above them. It seemed that the men were taught to fight against the enemy who would not use anything to its advantages. It was just a matter of time before they would start to split up to cover broader ground. It would be much easier to deal with them once they would do it, but it was not a part of Akali's plan.

Without much thinking, the huntress jumped to the level below, catching the attention of the soldier solely on her. She flashed a nasty smile before charging toward the nearest man. Once again, the utter shock prevented the warriors of the Empire form firing immediately at the assassin. To them, it seemed surreal. How someone could just jump between 15 armed soldiers and expect to survive. The answer was relatively trivial to guess, but before they would be aware of that, they would be dead. You might already know it. The huntress was on an entirely different level, so the rules that they needed to obey were nothing to Akali.

Before the first bullets had a chance to be fired, the nearest soldier was cut in half. The thick, fresh blood covered a nearby area. It took just a moment, a fraction of second, and the man was gone. Between the remnants of the man, the huntress was standing, her clothes soaked with blood. Within moments the throat screams filled the air as one by one the soldiers started to shoot.

The men of the Empire were so enraged that the important detail was omitted. The white-haired woman was not stupid, she positioned herself right between them to discourage them from shooting. After all, they would be in caught in their very own crossfire. However, it seemed that those men were far past the point when they would be able to spot the imminent danger.

Akali could not help but bust with loud laughter. Those soldiers were more of the fools that she had initially expected. Even though the huntress was still laughing, she continued to dodge the bullets. In a matter of seconds, she became a blur for the men. She simply was moving around too fast for them to even catch a glimpse of it. So… in the end, it seemed that the trained soldiers were shooting no better than a blind man would. It did not take much time before the first soldiers started to collapse under their own fire.

Soon enough, all of the servants of the Empire were lying on the cold floor, wounded. The fresh blood stained the stone. The air was filled by the groans and cries of the injured or dying. In the middle of that circle of the death, the white-haired huntress was standing. Even though her clothes were marked by the bullets, but still, she was uninjured. She was still able to fight. And… her hunger for blood and death was not satisfied.

After a couple of moments of complete silence spent among the cold air of the night, Akali moved slightly. The short, curved daggers were reached for. For a few seconds, the goddess of death was staring into the razor-sharp steel as if it wanted to tell her something. It can sound really ridiculous, but it seemed to be an intimate scene of some sort.

It did not last long. After what felt like just a fraction of a second, the daggers were lowered. The eyes of the predator focused on the nearest still-alive soldier. Akali's eyes became even darker than previously, her hunger needed to be satisfied. When a small mischievous smile was flashed, the fangs of the huntress could be spotted easily. Without a hurry, she closed the gap between her and the dying man.

Even though he was most likely not able to see her clearly, the assassin found fear in his slightly fogged eyes. The crimson-red-eyed woman cupped his chin and straddle his chest. For a couple of prolonged moments, she was crushing the man's jaw with her left hand while playing with the dagger in the other one. The white-haired huntress was enjoying every single second her current occupation. Every single little groan, scream, whine, she loved all of them. The assassin was all too aware that the soldier had little time left. But… she deserved to have a little fun after all her struggle. So… she continued to toy with the man who was not able to even lift a finger.

As you might know, even the best game must come to an end at some point. In Akali's case, it did not take long before she got bored with the weakling. As a sign of mercy, the huntress stabbed him right through the plate into the heart. She spared him a long, painful death.

The white-haired goddess of death allowed herself to wait a moment or two before standing up. With a dagger close to her chest, she turned around and started to head toward the next wounded soldier. On her pretty face, the maniacal smile could be spotted.

_**Irelia's POV (in a mean-time):**_

* * *

Irelia could not stand it. It was too much for her. Still, on her knees, the pink-haired officer started to cry silently.

"Akali, please, stop," Irelia begged once again through their connection.

To her utter surprise, Akali's vision started to blur. The assassin was trembling. Maybe… just maybe, there was a chance to prevent the huntress from killing all of them. Perhaps if she continued to assault the very mind of the white-haired woman, she would succeed.

Without a moment of hesitation, the pink-haired officer focused on Akali with everything she got. Every ounce of strength that she could muster was needed. She wanted to push through the invisible, invincible wall that seemed to be blocking her very thoughts from the huntress mind. Even though she had closed her eyes a couple of moments ago, she could still see everything that Akali could.

At first, it seemed that once again, her actions were to no avail. The huntress was still trembling, but nothing else happened. It appeared as one of the internal fights, maybe even the same one that got her hurt before. After a minute or so, the white-haired woman froze. Her sight was set on the nearest wall, but no thoughts, no words were sent back by Akali.

Irelia gasped loudly. "It's working," she exclaimed cheerfully in her mind. From her point of view, all she needed to do was to continue. It would seem so easy if someone thought about it for a moment. After all, the only way, Irelia could reach the huntress was through the connection that the said woman established herself. With that particular idea in mind, she focused even harder on her goal. She wanted the assassin to stop butchering people. She wanted her to stop.

"Akali, if you hear me, please, let it go," the soldier was murmuring under her breath.

_**Akali's POV (in a mean-time):**_

* * *

The pain that was running through the huntress body was unbearable. But… the source of it was her head. The mental bridge that Akali explained as a connection of some sort was causing it. The white-haired woman felt as if she was about to explode. The only good effect of Irelia's efforts was the fact that the primal instincts that took hold of her body were wavering. Of course, the problem was that the pain remained. The lips of the white-haired woman seemed to be glued together. Out of the corners, the trail of fresh blood was flowing. She could feel that her sharp fangs were buried deep in her own flesh. It was just a matter of time before her fists were clenched till the point her knuckles went white out of the put pressure.

As through the thick mist, she could see the wall. Her vision was becoming foggier with every single passing second. She felt weak, useless. With an effort equivalent to running the marathon, she was able to take a single step toward the stone surface.

"Akali, Akali, Akali!" the pleading tone of Irelia's voice was echoing inside her mind.

"Please, stop it. It hurts so much!" the huntress was groaning loud while slowly closing the distance to the wall.

After what felt like an eternity, she rested her tensed, hurt body against the pleasant cold surface. With every single moment, with every single plead that seemed to be roaring inside her skull, she became weaker and weaker. If it was to continue, soon she would not be able to stand, she would not be able to muster enough strength to do so.

The constant pain brought the assassin toward the brink of catastrophe. Deep down, Akali knew that the only way out of the suffering was to allow her instincts to kick in again. The huntress despised that idea with every once of herself. Soon after the hopelessness… the rage came.

Within the next minutes, the white-haired woman tried to contain the wave of negative emotions that flooded her mind. She tried to control herself, not to allow the rage to get better of her. It was a fight that she lost long before it truly started. The fury filled Akali's veins in what felt like an instant. Unintentionally, she once again began to tremble. The crimson-red eyed woman roared furiously. She was still trying to wrestle up against the lost fight.

Soon enough, Akali could not hold her rage inside her body. It was too difficult for her. The wall she was using to support her fame was a cloudly point before her very eye. At this point, she could be just blind. The head was still threatening to explode in any given moment. The huntress was at her limit.

With another primal, furious roar she started to punch the cloudy object before her. Even though her bones were enhanced at least a couple of times, soon enough, she began to feel the pain. That's said, she did not back down, in fact, that detail only fueled her rage even more. After a couple of moments, she started to bash with her head against the solid surface that she no longer could see. The blood began to trail down her forehead, her cheeks, her jaw, all the way down. As you might expect already, Akali was in some kind of a trance. She no longer cared whether she would do any harm to herself as long as the echoing inside her head would stop. If the only other way out of that situation was to kill herself, she would opt for it without a moment of hesitation.

"Akali?" the tender voice of Irelia called her through their connection. "Please, don't hurt yourself anymore," she added in a cry-like manner. "You're the one who can kill your mentor. If you're gone, I fear how many more innocent people will die. Beside… you've promised me something," the officer said in a pleading tone. "You can take my however you want, but please, stop," she finished, crying.

"You are going to be the death of me," Akali groaned, choking on the mixture of her own blood and salvia. "But… I can not tell if I am going to be able to hold onto my promise," she added, whispering. "I am so hurt, so weak."

"No!" the pink-haired officer denied. "I won't allow you to leave me!" she uttered in a strong voice. "I'm coming for you."

"No,…" the huntress whispered. "Your kind will be here soon if they see you, your career and life will be ruined. I am going to reach you… no matter what," she added, coughing, having problems to catch a breath.

"Akali… I… I… need you," Irelia stuttered. "Come to me," she pleaded.

"Do you have med-kit with you?" Akali asked, groaning through her teeth.

"I have a little of first aid kit hidden in my armour," the soldier replied. "What do you need?" she asked.

"You will see," the assassin breathed out. "I am cutting the connection for now," Akali informed the officer.

"Why? Akali…" the voice of Irelia faded away.

Even though the bridge between their mind was currently closed, the echoing did not stop. In fact, it became even more difficult to survive. Even without her sight, Akali knew where her blades were attached. A little effort was all it took for her to pick up the short dagger. For a couple of prolonged moments, the huntress was passing the razor-sharp steel from one hand to another, hesitating. With pain currently was difficult to cope with, but if she decided to proceed with her plan, soon she would screaming on top of her lungs.

"Come on, coward," Akali taunted herself. "She got the point, if you are dead, no one will stop Rengar from wreaking havoc," she added.

"Fine," she exhaled deeply after a couple of moments. "Let's do it."

The decision was made.

Within the next few seconds, the sharp blade was pointed at the midriff of the huntress. Gently, she was touching her frame with the tip of the dagger, trying to find the right spot to thrust the steel in. Her top priority was no to kill herself or cause massive internal bleedings that could end her life before she would be able to patch herself up.

It took her at least a minute to find it. A couple of deep breaths were taken to calm the huntress's mind. Or… at least to calm it down as much as it was possible in the given situation. Akali was all too aware that she could postpone the action, but in the end, it would only cause her more problems. With both hands resting on the handle of the weapon, she pushed it toward herself in one swift motion.

As the huntress expected, the pain that came a moment later was difficult to describe. The closest thing she could come up with was being cut piece by piece. The burning sensation mostly caused due to the poison that the dagger was covered with. It was meant to attack the nervous system, to cause immense suffering.

The assassin managed to slowly raise up. Even though her entire frame was aching, trembling, she needed to press on. The tears unintentionally started to run down Akali's cheeks, mixing with the blood that was still leaking from the corners of the woman's lips. The huntress did not even try to hide her suffering anymore, she just did not have any strength left in the tank to do so. Time after time, the loud, feral scream would sound in the night. The crimson-red-eyed assassin was weakened, but still, she was in control of her very own body. Which frankly, was already far better than what she endured throughout the evening.

With every passing second, the huntress was slowly regaining her senses. The only problem the assassin was left with was the wound that would not heal on its own due to the used poison. Akali was heavily bleeding, but she could not allow or justify removing the blade right now. After all, it would only make her bleed more. However, due to her increased regeneration, her body might be able to at least seal the breach in her vessel.

With another scream and the curse that followed it, the wounded woman began to head toward Irelia. Some things still required her to be alive, she could not allow herself to die.

_**Irelia's POV (a couple of minutes later):**_

* * *

To say that Irelia was worried would be a massive understatement. She entirely lost the sense of time, she felt as if trapped in time, froze. The pink-haired woman was quickly getting sick out of pure worries. To her, Akali seemed like an invincible statue carved in stone that stood everything that the world decided to throw at her. Even when she got back to her apartment covered in blood, she was still as dangerous as ever. To Irelia, it seemed as if the huntress just allowed her to take care of herself. The assassin merely allowed her protective wall to be lowered.

Sadly, the current situation was far from the mentioned case. Akali… Akali seemed to be broken, to be lost inside her mind, devoured by her instincts. It was, at the same time, both shocking and terrifying. It could be compared to the person that you know as very controlled, calm, and out of a sudden, that person could go wild.

Irelia was still resting her weight onto the railing of the building. It was at least a couple of minutes since the white-haired woman cut her off, blocked their mental connection. Under her very breath, the pink-haired officer was pleading, begging, praying that Akali succeeded in anything she planned. She did not lie when she said that she needed the huntress. It would be just delusional from her side to deny that she was frankly saying smitten with the crimson-red-eyed beauty. She would do anything to prevent her from going through that alone.

Within the next moments, the panic started to wake inside of her. "What if Akali wounded herself so badly that she can not move, or worse killed herself?" Irelia thought deep inside her mind. "I need to come to her, I just need!" she added, panicking.

The moment she wanted to avert her gaze out of the railing and to turn around, she froze again. With the very corner of her eye caught a glimpse of something. Without hesitation, she focused on that only to find out that in fact, it was Akali. With agility, that cat would probably kill for, the white-haired huntress was slowly but surely climbing onto the very top of the building. It was just a matter of time before she would be close to the soldier, close enough for her to hug her and maybe… kiss her? With nothing better to do, the officer continued to watch the assassin climbing.

After a couple of prolonged moments, the crimson-red-eyed woman jumped over the railing. She looked terrible. Her clothes were torn into shreds, the blood was covering the entirety of her frame. At the huntress's face, the trails of tears and blood could be easily spotted. The skin was shattered on her hands. Quite a few bruises could be found there as well. But… it was no the most terrifying thing that Irelia spotted. The dagger that was standing out of the assassin's midriff was.

"Akali!" the officer gasped loudly. "We need to take care of it, now," she added.

To her surprise, the white-haired woman did not say a word. Alarmed by that detail, Irelia focused on the face of the huntress once again. No emotion could be read out of it, not even pain, just emptiness.

"I am sorry, but it is the only way," Akali whispered a moment before landing a crushing hit onto the head of the soldier.

"Why?" the surprised pink-haired woman asked before losing consciousness.

"I will explain later," the huntress replied in a whisper-like manner.

In the very next second, she picked up the unconscious woman and started to carry her out in a bridal style.


End file.
